Crystal Waters
by gecko-grl-2
Summary: Yugi never recovered from the day an ocean storm took his parents away from him. He wishes desperatly for a family to love him, yet in the world of today that is nearly inpossible but his wish would soon be granted by the most unlikly of creatures. AU
1. Chapter 1

_Hello this is gecko grl 2 back with another story. I hope that you like this one. _

_This is an alternate universe fanfic, so everything might be alittle different. I'm sry if I make Yami and Yugi out of character, but I haven't read the manga or watched the anime, so this is all going off of what I read in fanfiction._

_I don't really have any warnings, but there will be people getting beat up, bleeding, ect. But I will rate it teen just in case._

_This is a brother fic, so there will not be any yyxy parings. Please don't ask me to change it to that because I won't. I have nothing agianst you yyxy fans, but I will not write it._

_Summary: Yugi parents died during a flash storm while the were out on the ocean. A few years later, Yugi is now 15, he had ran away from the orphanage and is now hiding at an aquatic research facility. Not really the best place since he is deathly scared of open water, but it would be the last place anyone would think to look for him._

_He never truly recovered from the day his parents died, and he wishes with all his heart to have a famlily that wouldn' t leave him. But little did he know that his wish would be granted by the most unlikly creature._

_Well I hope that you enjoy my latest story, plz read and review._

_**Chapter 1 **_

_**Crystal Waters**_

_**By: Gecko grl 2**_

Prologue

You turn the corner and enter a large room. The walls are white with silver and purple trimmings. Pictures are hung everywhere; they show a variety of things, all of them dealing with sea life. There is a window at the far end of the room. It is open, letting in the breeze and showing the crystal blue cove that resided outside.

Right next to the window, an old lady sat in a rocking chair. She was positioned to where she coud easily see out the window, yet she could also face the group of children sitting infront of her. The children are sitting quietly, seeming to be waiting for somtehing. Some of them are curiously looking at the paintings that cover the wall, the ones you saw earlier, while others are looking out of the window wondering what the lady is watching.

You are curious as to why all these people are sitting here so you step further in to the room gaining the attention of the elderly lady in the rocking chair. She turns her eyes from the scene outside the window and faces you. A smile grows on her wrinkled face and her eyes shin with happyness.

"Hello. Are you here to listen to the story? Come sit with the others while I decide where to begin." She says to you.

_'So that is what they are doing in here.'_ You think to youself. A question pops into your head and without thinking, you voice it.

"Who are you?" You ask.

The lady is still smiling as she replies, "I shall tell you my name when the story is over. Do you want to hear the story?"

Noding your head you walk over to an open spot on the floor and sit down, immitating the other people you see. The lady is once again looking out her window and you finally get a good look at her.

She has tan skin with few blemishes even in her old age. Her long white hair is pulled into a pony tail and long bangs frame her face. She has sea green eyes that are so bold you wonder if they are contacts. She is wearing a light blue shirt and tan colored pants. A interestingly designed blanket covered her lower body and a silver chained necklace eith a single shinning pearl adorned her neck.

She continues to look out the window and you let your eyes wander over to a medium sized picture which hung on the wall close to the open window. It depicted a cove, probably the one ouside, with water splashing against the rocks. The sky was showing a sunrise, with all the gorgeous colores playing across the water. But the most spectacular thing in the picture was two teens.

The picture was showing them from the side, giving a perfect profile; both of them were male, with the same tri-colored hair and both sporting a shinning tail instead of legs, the color matching their eyes. The most noticable difference between them was their eyes, one was a sharp crimson, somhow softened, giving him a protective look; while the other had gentle amethyst eyes, showing compassion and kindness.

"I'm going to tell you a story about a boy. Trying to find a family in a world that didn't seem to want him. Little did he know, that the family he wanted so badly would come to him, in the form of a creature that belonged to myth and farytale.

"And this is where the story began."

Chapter 1

The night started out normal, a family taking a break out on the ocean, watching the sun set and the stars come out.

A small boy, no older than seven or eight, was watching sun set with his parents. The small family sailboat bobbed up and down gently with each wave that passes by. The sun's waning light danced across the blue and white waves while the stars were just beginning to wake from their slumber. The shoreline was just a thin brown streak on the horizon and the few palm trees had been reduced to the size of a toothpick.

The boy and his parents were currently putting a one hundred piece puzzle together as they reclined on the boat's deck. The parents smiled at their child's apparent fascination with trying to put a puzzle together without any reference. His amythyst eyes shining with triumph every time he put another piece in its place, reveling the hidden picture.

They knew that their son was in love with games and even with his young age he showed the making of a games master. Challenging him with different puzzles and games had become a tradition and the entire family enjoyed it. When their son had solved every puzzle and beat every game that they gave him, they had developed a new hobby for trying to find _at least one_ game that would be challenging for him to beat, and so far their search had turned up nothing.

The boy's preferences leaned more towards the puzzles, card games, and stratigic games than anything else. He could figure his way around almost any obsticle and any stratigie, no matter if he has seen it before or not.

The setting sun gave off just enough light to see by. The boy's graceful mother was helping him with the puzzle, her blond hair cascading over her slender shoulders and her purlpe eyes refelcting her son's enjoyment. She was a graceful woman, a person of gentle character and always thought before she acted.

His father sat next to the boy, watching the puzzle being put together and giving advice every now and then. He was a dignified man with short reddish black hair and hazel eyes that were more calculating than carefree, but they still had some compassion for those who deserved it.

The boy was almost done with his puzzle, his amethyst colored eyes shining with happyness and determination. His star shaped hair shot up in the air with gravity defying spikes eddged in crimson, and his lightening blond bangs framing his cerubic face.

He was slightly shorter that other kids his age and he wasn't very good at sports. Instead of participating in athletic activities, he would imerse himself in games of all kinds. His hair, which strangly enough was natural, made it hard for him to be inconspicuous and it drawed alot of attention to him from the bullies, yet he would still be one of those _background_ people.

Off in the distance, the opposite side of the setting sun, angry black and purple clouds began to form. Silently, like a predator stalking its prey, the ominous clouds crept towards the small unsuspecting sailboat and its occupants. The wind began to pick up and the water became restless. The seagulls and other sea life, sensing the approaching storm, scattered and headed for shelter.

All of this went unnoticed by the family in the boat. They had finished the puzzle and were currently curled up underneath a thick blanket, watching the stars come out. The young boy was almost asleep as he listened to waves gently lapping against the side of the boat and his mother's gentle lullaby. His amethyst eyes were half lidded in sleep as his mother gently ran her finger through his hair. Soon enough, the boy was fast asleep, curled up comfortably against his parents. His mother was leaning against his father, whose arm was wrapped around her shoulders.

His parents smiled at their little angel as he slept. This was their only child and they were proud of him, their little Game King, their little Yugi. They couldn't wait to see what kind of man he would grow up to be.

The black clouds were approaching faster now and the waves were starting to through fits. All the sea life was gone and the stars were steadily being swallowed by the approaching storm. The sun had almost disappeared and the boats automatic lights turned on.

The two adults were brought out of their thoughts when a wave crashed into their small boat. Immediately coming to life, they checked to make sure that their son's life jacket was fastened tightly before they went to get their own.

As soon as their hands left their son's life jacket a larger wave than before slammed into the opposite side of the boat, sending the family crashing to the floor. Yugi woke with a start as he found himself on the floor of the deck and his parents scrambling around trying to tie things down. His wide amethyst eyes froze on the sight of the ominous black and purple clouds that were quickly approaching. He dimly heard his parents' frantic words about a flash storm and needing to tie things down.

The wind whipped through the air, catching the sail and forcing the boat to tip precariously to the side. The occupants of the boat desperately reached for anything that would keep them from falling into the ocean's murky depths. The waves became fierce and they crashed into and over the small boat, sweeping away anything that wasn't tied down.

"Yugi!!!" His parents yelled, trying to find out where their son was. Lightening flashed and the resulting thunder drowned out any noise except for the angry waves and fierce winds. Rain began to beat mercilessly out of the sky, making it even harder for the humans to see.

Yugi was trying so hard to stay on the boat; his small body and lack of strength were both factors against him as the rain beat down. He barely heard his parents calling his name and he tried to see through the curtain of rain. Lightening illuminated the sky once again and Yugi saw that his parents were at the other side of the boat.

Scared and frightened of the knife like waves that were constantly crashing into the side of the boat, he tried to make it to where his parents were. Somehow, he knew that if he could get to his parents he would be alright.

A rather large wave began to rise and approach the defenseless sailboat. Lightening crackled across the sky, illuminating the angry sea and the deadly wave that was fast approaching, which completely went unnoticed by the people on the boat.

The wave crashed headlong into the boat sweeping over the deck and almost submerging it. Yugi was swept across the deck, his hands grabbing desperately at anything to stop his decent to the ocean. Right as he was about to be swept off the side of the deck, his right hand collided with the rail. He quickly grasped onto the only thing that would keep him from being swallowed by the hungry waves.

He coughed as the sea water tried to force its way into his mouth and nose. The water from the last wave had barley receded before another one crashed onto the deck. Yugi tried to keep his hold on the railing as the waves and wind tossed this small boat back and forth, trying furiously to prevent the ocean from swallowing him up and taking him away from his parents.

"YUGI!!!!!" His head shot up as his mother once again screamed his name. She was on the other side of the boat, one hand holding onto a rail while the other was holding onto an orange life jacket. She and Yugi's father were trying to make their way towards Yugi when everything tumbled down.

Lightening snaked through the sky, finally deciding on a target. In what appeared to be slow motion it lanced toward the broken sail, its bright light temporarily blinding Yugi and making him see spots. His vision cleared and he saw the look of pure terror on his parents' faces. The lightening struck the top of the sail and time resumed.

C_rack!_ **BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!**

The force of the thunder and the electrical charge that ran throughout the boat forced Yugi's hand from its semi-secure hold on the rail, sending him crashing into the waves. The dark foamy water closed over his head and, even with the life jacket, the current dragged him down.

He panicked, trying desperately to reach the surface. Air, he needed air. His eyes were wide open but all he saw was the dark foamy water and flashes of light that appeared above him. His lungs burned as he desperately swam in the direction he thought the surface was.

At the last second he broke through the surface, gasping for air and trying to stay afloat among the angry waves. His small body was tiring extremely fast and he was relying heavily on his orange life jacket as he was tossed around.

**BOOoooommmm!… **

The thunder split the air particles apart as the sound traveled through the waves and his small body. His mind was a panicking mess as another wave towered above him.

He got one last look at the demolished, burning boat and that look of horror on his parents' faces, before the towering wave crashed down on him, sending him into cold, wet, darkness.

_**To be continued...**_

_Well, what do you think so far? The next chapter will be very short. This chapter would have been shorter but I decieded to combine two of the chapter. Oh well._

_I am acctually happy with this story. I have it planned out so I hope that I don't get stuck on it like my other stories. Somwthing that really surprised me is that when I had my sister ,the one who wrote 'Memories', preview this chapter she actually gave it a thumbs up. Which is really shocking, she doesn't really like fantasy books._

_If you have any questions about this story ask in a review and I'll try to answer. Happy almost New Year people!!_

_Review plz!!!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello, it's me again. I know that this chater is short but this is what I split off from the first chapter._

_Plz read and review! I would really appreciate it!_

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Recap: 

**_BOOoooommmm!… _**

_The thunder split the air particles apart as the sound traveled through the waves and his small body. His mind was a panicking mess as another wave towered above him._

_He got one last look at the demolished, burning boat and that look of horror on his parents' faces, before the towering wave crashed down on him, sending him into cold, wet, darkness._

_**To be continued...**_

* * *

**Crystal Waters **

**Chapter 2**

**by: geckogrl2**

* * *

"No!!" Yugi shot up, breathing heavily, fearful eyes wide and full of tears. His hand had a death grip on his blanket as he tried to reign in his terrified and panicking mind. A shaky pale hand lifted up and pressed against his temple. 

'_Deep breath…it was just a dream…just a dream…'_ But Yugi knew that this was his memory. _'My memory has become a nightmare that I can't escape from; just like my life…what will I do?'_

He lay back down on the cushions he used for a bed and closed his eyes. That memory had been plaguing him for about a week now and he was beginning to show the side effect. His breathing slowed as he cleared his mind and his death grip loosened. His hand fell from his forehead back to the ground and he turned to lie on his side.

The sunlight from the only window poured into his exposed face, causing him to squint and pull his blanket over his head. This didn't help any seeing as how the blanket was as thin as a sheet of paper, so Yugi sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

Noise slowly filtering in, in the background. An uneasy feeling settled into his stomach, making his nervous and excited at the same time.

There would be something happening today, if the noise was any clue. A few of the janitors were busy cleaning the holding tank. _'They must be coming in with some kind of fish; must be one that they don't want anyone else to see either.'_ This room is in the very back of the research facility and is any kind of authorities personnel didn't come back here. Which is why Yugi was in here, he didn't want to go back to the orphanage, there was no one there for him. He couldn't escape a cage of his own making. Besides, Yugi had nowhere to go; so he's stuck here until _they_ get bored of him and kill him.

Who are _they_? They are the guards, some of them are gang members hired as guards, for the research facility. They were the first one who found Yugi when he hid in this room, and, upon finding him, took him to the manager. Most of the times they did catch him was when they were drunk, so they forget about him pretty quick.

He was happy that the manager didn't care if he was in that room, just as long as he worked there and didn't cause trouble. The line of work was to keep quiet about what went on in this facility and he had to clean the holding tank room. He wasn't paid anything, but that didn't really matter. If he did get money, then he would have to leave so that he could spend the money, and he could get caught by the police and taken back to the orphanage.

Yugi stood up slowly, so that his head wouldn't spin from lack of food. Only one person was considerate enough to bring him food and that person wasn't allowed to be back here; but thankfully Christine would sneak some whenever she could but most of the time he went hungry.

Christine is one of the secretaries for this place. She, unlike everyone else, was kind and gentle and a lot like Yugi's deceased mother. Currently, she was trying to save up money to move and become an author; and when she switched jobs, she was going to adopt Yugi as long as it was okay with him. But until she saved enough money and found that house, she would have to hope that Yugi would stay alive and that she wouldn't get fired.

Yugi slowly approached the side door, his face brightening considerably when he saw a cloth bag sitting on the floor beside the closed door. '_It seems that Christine was able to come today.' _Yugi thought as he quickly snatched the bag and made a beeline for his alcove.

He had found this alcove on the first day he was here. It was perfect because it was to small for the guards to get in yet, thanks to his small size, it was just large enough for him to fit into. One part of the alcove was stationed up against the holding tank, which allowed him to see what was inside and another spot allowed him to see the rest of the room without being seen. Aside from the location and the size, there was also a small sink stationed right up against the holding tank, and in the back was a ladder that led up to the catwalk, which hung about two feet from the surface of the water of the holding tank.

He hid the two apples within his blanket and ate the roll and the banana. He took his time eating them, knowing that gorging himself would only make things worse than when he was starving. When he was finished, he threw away the peel and went over to the sink to wash his hands. Careful to not look at the water in the holding tank, he finished in record time and sat back on his 'bed', wondering what would happen today.

'_I should probably stay here if they're putting something in the tank.'_ Normally he would be cleaning the room (as payment for his board) and hope that the guards wouldn't get drunk; he always ended up at the receiving end of their drunken rage.

There was a change in the air that day, it didn't seen so stifling and crowded; and Yugi was sensitive enough to now that his life was about to change.

'_Something will happen today, I just know it.' _He discreatly hid a yawn behind his hand, and crawlwd back toward his mat.

_'And a small nap wouldn't hurt anything either...'_

_

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_

_**To be continued...****

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** _

Well, there is the chapter; hope u enjoyed it.

plz review, reviews make me want to update more.


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello readers, gecko grl 2 here with the latest chapter in Crystal Waters. hope you enjoy!_

_(line thing)_

* * *

You find yourself back in the room with purple and gold trimmings. The elderly lady is pausing in her story to get a glass of water and the other children in the room are streching their legs. Some of them have left while others are waiting patiently and there are some new people waiting patiently to hear the story.

Glancing out the window, you realize that the sun hasn't moved since you had gotten here and you wonder why.

The rocking chair creaks, signifying that the lady is back and that the story would begin again shortly. The lady glances over the children tht are seated on the floor and smiles.

She once again looks out the window, gazing at things only she could see. With a deep breath, she contiues with her story.

"In a place not so far from where Yugi was, another young male was currently having troubles of his own. Let me tell you about a boy named Yami, for it was his appearence that changed Yugi's life forever..."

* * *

**_Crystal Waters_**

**_Chapter 3_**

**_by: geckogrl2_**

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(line thing) 

How could he let himself be captured! He was smarter than this! HE was a prince! He had the best trainers availible, he was top in all his defence and magic classes! And here he got cougjt by _humans!_ _**Humans**_!! For crying out loud!

His magic shouldhave been strong enough to take on _humans._ And he _would_ have been able to fight back if it wasn't for the fact that they had _nets_ and sleepy _needles_.

He thrashed as hard as he could in the wierd restraining device they had tied him to. The wierd silver stone bit into his scales as he tried to free himself. His magic wasn't working at the moment; those sleepy needles must have something to do with that.

Currently, he was strapped down to some kind of silver board submerged in funny tasting water; even though it was pitch black he could tell that the box was extremely small. Those land dwelling_ humans _had locked him here; the shock of being completely out of water for the first time had stunned him long enough for them to successfully capture him.

'_The moment my magic comes back, they're gonna wish that they had never seen me!'_ He thought angrily, yet underneath his anger, fear was beginning to grow. He had heard stories about what the humans could do marine life and definately merpeople. Their research facilities and laboratories caused many nightmares by the mere mention of them.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost didn't notice the change in auroras around the box before it was too late. The box suddenly lurched to the side and the steady rocking of the boat ceased.

'_Oh no…'_ Yami dreaded what was happening. _'They're moving me!'_

He thrashed as hard as he could in his restraints. The box tipped precariously to the side and Yami heard muffled shouting. Suddenly the box lurched downward and it emited a thud when it was set down and all went quiet. Yami stilled as all motion stopped, and spent the moment of calm going over what had lead to his capture.

Earlier that day, he was swimming in the outskirts of the kigdom's territory, trying to collect his thoughts before another boring lesson, when he heard a distressed call coming from a dolphin. He had sped toward the spound and came across a young dolphin caught in what looked like a fisherman's net. He had helped the dolphin escape but the humans had decided at that specific moment to pull the net up, entangling him and dragging him up to the surface.

The air forcing its way into his lungs had put him into shock, paralyzing his movement. Yet when one of the humans had approched him and touched his fin he snapped out of his shock and fought back. Thrashing and pounding his strong fin into any human that would get to close. As weak as he was out of the water, he was still stronger than the humans, but when they ganged up on him and had about six humans hold him down while one in a white coat thing stuck a needle in his upper arm.

After about ten minutes his struggling died down slightly, yet whatever the needle was supposed to do it obviously didn't do it because they all had frowns on their faces; but it did make him slightly tired and it canceled out all of his magic.

Then they locked him up inside this wierd container which thankfully had water, funny tasting water, and strapped him down to a silver board.

A wierd sound wafted through the box, bringing Yami back to the present, and the box started to vibrate and bump up and down. Yami's crimson eyes narrowed, his momentary musings brought to a complete halt as he frantically tried to figure out what was happening. The entire box suddenly lurched forward, causing his tail to hit againdt the end of the box. He grimanced, it didn't hurt that bad but the restraints were cutting into his scales.

Another bump garred the box and Yami scowled. What were they doing!? Trying to sail through rocks?! He doubted that the humans were stupid enough to sail through coral fields or anything else of that matter, so what was going on?

Yami froze, a suspision forming in his mind as he reached out with his senses to try and feel the ocean's calming presence. His eyes widened when he realized that the ocean was getting smaller, and something that was missing form the regular fell of his surroundings, making him nervous.

That could only mean one thing...The humans had brought him on land!!!

Every marine creature had a fear of being stranded on land. It boded certain death unless they got into water, and Yami was no different.

_'No.'_ Yami went limp in his restraints, defeated by this new factor. Even if he could get out of these restraints and away from the humans, he counldn't survive for very long unless he was in water. He'd never see the ocean again, never see his friends or the palace.

_**'No**...'_ Yami thought determindly, shaking hiimself out the abyss the situation was creating. _'I **will** make it back alive, I **will not** let these humans defeat me,'_ "I **will win** this game!"

He then resigned himself to gathering his strength and recollecting his magic, planning all the while for his escape.

Lord help whoever got in his way.

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**_To be continued..._**

**_

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_**

_I want to say thank u to all the reviewers. Your comments help me greatly. I encourage you to speak your minds._

_I'm still re-editing the next chapter; planning out exactally what I want to happen._

_And a fair warring, my internet might be taken away from me within the next few weeks so if I dont update soon then i'm sry in advance. i have to take exams next week and i'm not very good at chemistry._

_Plz review._


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hello readers, It's me again. I hope that you ejoy this chapter.**_

_**Notice: This is a brother/family fic and there will be no yaoi.**_

_Summary:Yugi parents died during a flash storm while the were out on the ocean. A few years later, Yugi is now 15, he had ran away from the orphanage and is now hiding at an aquatic research facility. Not really the best place since he is deathly scared of open water, but it would be the last place anyone would think to look for him. _

_He never truly recovered from the day his parents died, and he wishes with all his heart to have a famlily that wouldn' t leave him. But little did he know that his wish would be granted by the most unlikly creature._

_'Yugi's thoughts'_

_/'Yami's thoughts'/_

"Talking"

_**Chapter 3**_

_**Crystal Waters**_

_

* * *

He remembered dark water, and the feeling of air leaving his small lungs. He had practically given up hope. His parents were gone and there would be no one there for him if he got back. So, he just let the current take him further from the surface._

_It was then that he noticed it, a sparkle in the darkness. Something golden that cut through the fog of his mind. A strange feeling came with; it felt curious and concerned. _

A flash of red scales, slowly approaching him as he drifted aimlessly. His mind telling him that it could be some carnivorous fish that came to take advantage of a free meal, but something in his heart told him that whatever belonged to the red scales wouldn't hurt him. Whether it would harm him or not, Yugi resigned himself to whatever would happen, hoping that it wouldn't be painful.

The lack of oxygen was getting to his brain and both his mind and body were shutting down. He knew that if he didn't get air soon he would probably drown. For some reason, nothing seemed important anymore. He was just drifting, waiting for the same fate as his parents.

A flash of gold and something heavy settled around his neck. An unearthly glow illuminated him and a strange tug could be felt in his chest right about where his lungs were. He could feel the water flowing through them and somehow it was pushed out. The golden glow surrounded his throat and began to feed some kind of substitute for air into his lungs; and dimly Yugi realized that he could breath.

He slowly opened his eyes, unaware that he had closed them, and took in the scene around him. Unfortunately for him, the water was to dark for him to really see anything that wasn't a few feet from him. That golden glow didn't light up much but he was still thankful for it.

Glittering red scales soon caught his attention. His head turned towards the sight, trying to see in the darkness of underwater. Dulled amethyst eyes soon met a sight that changed the world for him.

Defiant crimson eyes stared back at him. Yugi stared back, his broken soul showing through his dulled and lifeless amethyst eyes. The owner of the red eyes winced, momentarily shocked at the lack of life in his eyes but soon a challenging look surfaced in them.

If Yugi had been paying attention he would have noticed what the crimson eyes belonged to. A teen that looked alot like him, and a glittering red tail replaced the spot where his legs should go.

Words were spoken, but Yugi couldn't understand them at all. The eyes narrowed at the lack of communication and the red tail, which as mentioned before had stayed unnoticed, twitched in irritation and determination. A smooth hand was raised from his side and, palm outward, pointed at the object around Yugi's chest. A golden spark shot from the person's hand to the pendent, and Yugi felt something tug at his mind.

/Are you just going to give up/_ A strong, calm, defiant voice echoed in his head. _

The dulled amethyst eyes widened slightly at the voice, knowing that it wasn't his own. Yugi tilted his head to the side in a questioning manner, wondering what the other meant when he said that.

W-what?_ Yugi asked._

/Are you going to just give up? Are you going to take the easy way out?/ _Like an elder brother, the voice asked again, disapproval evident in his voice _

A spark went off in the amethyst eyes, bringing a small amount of life back to the broken soul. Yugi's eyes widened a little bit more and his posture straightened slightly.

E-easy way?_ He asks._

/If you just lie down and die then where is the challenge in that? Death is the end of the game, and you havent even begon to play yet./ _The crimson eyes softened._ _At the mention of a game, Yugi began to show more life in his eyes. He couldn't turn away from any game no matter how hard it was. He was good at games, he liked games. His parents encouraged that he play every game to its fullest and try his hardest._

Game? _He asks hopefully, and excited tone surfacing in the deadpan voice that was there a moment ago. _

_The crimson eyes shine as he realized the way to bring this boy back into this world._ /Yes, a game. / _The voice replies and after thinking for a moment continues. _/A challenge. /

The boy's entire body was still as he waited to hear what the challenge was. The shell that the boy had placed around himself was beginning to crack, white fracture lines racing around the sphere as he began to show his true self.

/I challenge you to the game of the living. / _The voice declares challengingly. _

_The cracks became larger, letting the teen of the sea look at the inner turmoil of the boy's soul. He could tell that the boy wanted to accept his challange, but some sort of grief and despair was holding him down._

_Gently, so that he wouldn't harm the boy's fragil mind any more than it already was, he expanded his aura so that it would envelope the boy's soul. At first the boy hesitated, but Yugi sensed no malice or ill intensions from the crimson eyed teen and relaxed into his mental embrace._

_The teen gathered the human boy into his arms, using his own aura to strenghtn and comfort the boy's own. He knew that something else was harming the boy, but he couldn't dig into the boy's soul to find out in fear that it would shatter. The soul quielty cried into his warm embrace, glad for the comfort being given. Yugi's body quielty shook with his sobbs and he burried his face into the strange teen's chest, trying to hide from the world._

_The teen quietly shushed the crying boy, running a hand through the boy's hair and whispering calming sounds in his ear._

/It's allright, little one. You're allright, you're safe with me./ _He continued to whisper such things until the human calmed down slightly, Yugi's eyes were becoming heavy and sleep was circleing him like a hawk._

/Come on now, little one. It's time to play, time to get up./ _The teen gently and carefully nudged the tired soul, wanting to see if he would accept the challenge._ /Will you accept the challenge, little one? It is a hard game to play, but that jsut makes the winning so much more accomplishing./

_Yugi thought to himself sleepily, he wanted to accept the challenge. His parents told him to never back down from a new game, and this stranger wanted him to play the game too. So, maybe, he could play. _

Yes.

_The cracks in Yugi's shell instantly shattered, signifying that he accepted the challenge. His tired, amethyst eyes shone with a determination that matched the creature before him._

_The crimson-eyed teen smiled at the acceptance of his challenge and a tan hand lifted up and softly touched the younger boy's forehead. A golden light shot out and Yugi's amethyst eyes took on a golden hue for a brief moment before his eyelids closed and his body floated limp in his arms._

_The crimson-eyed teen kept the human boy in his arms, in the tender embrace of a brother, and silently swam towards the dolphin pod that was waiting patiently only a few meters away, ready to take the human to the surface._

_He silently wondered what the future had in store for the human boy that accepted his challenge._

_////////////////////////////////////////

* * *

_

Slowly, Yugi's mind same out of the comforting hold of sleep. His waking mind not completely remembering the dream he just had.

//////////////////////////////////////////

* * *

Something was definately going to happen today. On top of that wierd feelling he had earlier, there were guards and workers, other than himself, bustling about the holding tank's room. They were refilling the tank, putting fresh white sand in it, cleaning the working places, and setting up equipment. 

Yugi stayed exactly where he was, hiding in his alcove, waiting for the people to leave. He knew that they knew he was there, but they payed him no mind. They were busy and it was the guards job to weed out unwanted children, nosy worker lost their job.

Yugi's eyes watched as the workers, studying how they set up things, what they used, and how they used the larger tools.He got bored easily here so he made a game out of learning how to use the equipment. In the back of his mind, he wondered what they were bringing in. It must be something secret or illegal since they were using this holding tank; maybe it was a shark, so that they could get rid of incriminating evidence or unwanted help.

He had to admit that he was alittle bit curious. He's been here for a month and nothing really exciting had happened yet.

**"Beep, Beeep...Beep"** He jumped at the sound, startled. He calmed down slightly when he realized that it was only the calling system. The head of the guards strode over and picked up the phone. Yugi was to far away to hear what was being said, and obviously the other speaker was in a hurry because no sooner had the call been made, it was hung up.

The guard guickly turned over to the room's loud speaker and shouted out his orders.

**"Alright! All workers need to finish up what they are doing and be out of this room in ten minutes. I repeat, be finished in ten minutes!"** His message delivered, the guard turned off the loud speaker and went back to his station.

The workers frantically rushed around, trying to finish their job before the time limit was up.

Yugi mused at how fast people could work when they are under pressure. By the time five minutes had passed, the only people left in the room was Yugi and two of the certified guards. They seemed excited about something, and this made Yugi wonder once again what was going to happen.

Flashing lights caught his attention, and hsi gaze wandered over to the big door, which was to the left of where Yugi was currently. The yellow light that was stationed above that door was flashing, letting the occupants of the room know that there was people outside that needed to get in.

The correct code was typed in and the doors bean to open, the warning signal playing its regular beeping sound. On of their transport vehicles backed into the opening, stopping when they were at least half-way through. Five large workers get out if the vehicle and began to take something out of the back of the truck. The five workers carried in a large silver box, this was probably what they had found.

_'Or stole.'_ He added as an after thought.

From the size of the silver box, Yugi could tell that the creature inside was probably the size of a human. _'Maybe it is a dolphin.'_ He thought. Yugi continued to watch the workers carry the box towards the tank. Which accually brought them closer to him.

_'I should probably move closer to the back of my alcove, I dont want them to see me.'_ Yugi thought, trying to keep himsrlf from panicing. _'If this thing is top secert then I don't want to have to become involved. Who knows what would happen then.' _

Yet another part of his mind wanted to see what was in the box. The creature semed to be giving them a hard time, because every two seconds the box would lurch to one side with a rather loud thudding noise. The workers were barly keeping it from landing on the floor, let alone make any progress towards the tank.

All thoughts gone from hiding, he let his curiosity get the better of him. The creature had to be pretty strong if it was giving those men a hard time. Yet another thought occured to Yugi; if it was so strong, then why didn't they use a tranquilizer? It would have made their work alot easier.

_'Maybe the tranquilizer didnt have any effect,' _Yugi mused._ 'Or maybe they couldnt get close enough to use it.'_ Yugi's mind went over the possiblities until his mind wandered back to one of his other questions.

_'I wonder what is inside t-.' _Yugi froze mid-thought. Something in the air didn't feel right. It seemed cold and searching. It sent a chill up his spine. He focused on the feeling, trying to figure out what it was. The first thing that came to mind was how the ocean water felt the day _it _happened, angry and restless.

Snapping back to himself, he quickly shed away from the feeling. He didn't want to remember that day; wasn't the nightmare enough torment?

That feeling was back, only this time it felt more like a presense than a feeling. It had felt his quick movement and all of its attention was currently fixed onto him. Finding him quickly, and surrounding him even faster, alowing no room for escape.

It encompassed his mind, driving in those icy tendrils into the weak points of his defense, easily smashing them with one strike. They began to search, for what Yugi didn't know but each time the tendril touched something an image would pop up and pain would soon follow. Yugi desperatly tried to get away from it, he tried to fight back, but the presense had him in its hold and and wasn't going to let go any time soon. And although Yugi's mind was in an uproar, his body stayed deathly still.

It felt like he was submerged in water, the surface far away. He felt the presense search through his memories, causing him pain. He couldn't errect any type of barrier, for he didn't know how. The presense easily squashed his attemts at defense and proceded to probe deeper.

Yugi's eyes went wide. The probe was getting closer to _that_ day. Terror sunk its claws into him and panic began to control his actions. He tried to shield himself, accuatlly erecting a barrier, but the probe easily evaded it and began to go for that specfic memory. Yugi's racing mind made it slightly harder for the presense to find what he was trying to hide, but it was found none the less. With one quick strech, the presense touched what the boy's mind had been hiding.

Yugi was drowning, the waves wouldn't let him up. They took his parents and now they want him. An under current dragged him away, pulling him into the darkness. No light, no air, no family.

_**'NOO!!!!' **_

His heat racing, his mind panicing, he did everything he could think of to get away from the memory. He kicked, pushed, shoved, yet nothing seemed to work. In one desperate lest attempt, he gathered all the fear, the lonliness, the pain of this memory into one tight ball and shoved it into the presense. Forcing it to feel all that he was feeling all that he went through.

_**'No!** I don't want to see it. Don't make me see it! **Go away**. No more water, no more darkness. IT took them away from me. I don't want to see it. **NO!!'** _Yugi chanted this over and over in his head, praying that it would stop.

The presense writhed in pain as it recieved the once submerged memory, for only a moment he could see what Yugi had seen on that day, felt what he had felt. It seemed confused and scared, not scared of Yugi but of someting else. The presense began to leave, its icy tendrils receding from his mind, taking away the feeling of drowning with it. Yugi sat on the floor sobbing silently, his eyes closed and his body curled up in a ball, slightly rocking as he tried to get the image out of his head.

_'I don't want to see it...make it go away...somebody...help me.' _He pleaded silently. _'...Help me...I don't want...to be alone...' _

Alone...he would always be alone. His parents died, all of the foster families didn't want him, nobody wanted to adopt him, everyone always left. Despair and anguish clenched his heart, drowning him in its terrible clutches. He would have killed himself long ago but something deep down in his mind wouldn't let him.

The presense returned, but with a gentler feel to it this time. Tentivly, it approched him, seeming to be upset and confused about something.

Yugi shed away from the presense, afraid that he would be atacked like before. It carefully and gently surounded him, wrapping him in a warm embrace. Yugi stiffened at the contact, expecting some kind of pain to follow, but no icy tendrils bombarded him this time. It didn't probe his memories nor did the felling of drowning arrise, all that he felt was a soothing presense wash over his shattered mind driving away the despair and the loneliness. He relaxed his physical body going limp on the floor.

He felt as if he had just ran a marathon. Unconciously, he snuggled closer to the warm presense, completly relaxing. This reminded him of when his would be in his mother's arms after a big thunderstorm. For the first time in his life since his parents died, he felt safe.

His mind travled back to a time before he lost his parents, when he loved the ocean and he was the happiest person alive.

His egauhsted mind was almost asleep when he felt the warm presense begin to draw away, leaving Yugi alone. He desperatly reached out for the comforting presense, not wanting to be alone again.

_'No...don't leave...don't leave me alone...I don't want to be alone again...' _

It was almost gone when it stopped. A tendril of itself reached back for Yugi and gently wrapped around his panicking mind. It sent warmth and comfort, silently biding him to go to sleep. It seemed unsure, as if Yugi would refuse, but was surprised at what it heard next.

_'Don't leave...please...don't leave me alone...'_

The tendril reached deeper into Yugi's mind, careful so that it wouldn't harm him, and twisted around the right nerve and reenforced his request to sleep. Yugi's purple eyes took on a golden hue as he waited. Yugi still seemed determined to hear the answer, but he was too weak at the moment to refuse. The same tendril wrapped around Yugi's mind, offering comfort and warmth.

/'_Don't worry. I won't leave you.'/_

Yugi could have sworn that he saw familier crimson eyes watching him from behind a veil of water.

* * *

**_Well, there it is. I hope that it was ok._**

**_Oh guess what, I passed my exams! Yay! And I passed my driver's exam! NOw I have my permit! YAY!_**

**_PLz, PLZ, review the chapter for me!_**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Hello readers, I'm glad that your are reading this chapter. I want to thank the reviewers, they make me want to keep writing this story._**

_**Notes: **'Regula thinking.'_

_/'Yugi mind talking'/_

_dream/vision_

**_I hope you enjoy this chapter._**

* * *

_**Crystal Waters**_

_**Chapter 5**_

_**by: Geckogrl2**_

* * *

Thud

_'Ouch! Couldn't they at least be a little bit gentler?!'_ Yami thought. The box he was in had been moving for at least five minutes until it had stopped. He figured that they had arrived to where ever they were going, since the box kept jetting jarred like the first time they had picked it up.

And he was still pretty angry at the fact his magic still wasn't working properly.

He could hear muffled shouts now, and a weird beeping noise soon joined the background. Absentmindedly, he wondered what could be making that noise; he had never heard anything like that before.

Instinctively, he reached out with his sensing magic. His eyes widened when he realized that this part of his magic was actually working. An idea was slowly forming in his mind on how he would be able to get out of here. He read the auroras that were close enough to the box he was in. Unfortunately for him, they all had very good mental shields. Normally, he would be able to eventually break those defenses, but being in the state he was in he would have to find an exceptionally weak mind.

He stretched his senses a little bit further, hoping to find the 'weak link.' His jaw dropped when he felt the ocean near by. _'Well my luck just keeps getting better and better.'_

All he had to do was take control of a human mind or gather enough information to escape, and he would be home free.

He expanded his aura in his desperate search. He let just enough of his emotions leak through his shield so that if any of the humans reacted to it, he would know that the human's mental defense wasn't very strong.

He physically started to thrash harder, hoping to distract the humans that were carrying the box he was in. The box lurched to the side and it almost fell but they kept it off the ground. The silver restraints bit into his skin and scales, rubbing them raw and causing him pain.

Suddenly, he froze. He had felt something shed away from his aura. His entire attention focused itself on what had sensed him; in his mind's eye he could see the other's aura.

The aura's defenses were already in ruins and it would make it easy for him to invade this mind; and a quick once over told Yami that this soul wasn't going to stay standing for much longer on its own. _'Oh well, what's bad for him is good for me.'_

Yami wasted no time in surrounding the defenseless aura. Once it was secured, he drove ice like probes into the now panicking mind. He could feel it writhe and try to escape, but Yami had his hold on it and didn't plan on letting go until he had what he needed. The probe began to drive into the cracks of the defenses, searching through the human's memories, looking for a way out of his capture. When he couldn't find anything on the surface, besides that the building he was in was called a marine research facility, he dove deeper, oblivious to the pain he was causing.

The human's mind suddenly began to erect shields in an attempt to force him out. Though they were flimsy and easily evaded, it still alerted Yami that there was something the humans didn't want him to see.

More stable shields erected themselves as he got closer to what the human had buried deep in his memories. He was so close, just a little further and he would know what this human was hiding. He pushed a little further, a little harder…

'**_NOO!!!!'_**

The human's soul went into a frenzy. It kicked, pushed, and shoved in an attempt to get Yami away for the buried memory. But Yami was stronger and merely tightened his hold.

Suddenly, a tightly compressed ball of emotions and memories was shoved right into his metaphorical lap. He had no time to erect his own barrier before he was bombarded with the suppressed emotions. Images and words began to streak across his mind.

/'_**No! **I don't want to see it! Don't make me see it**! Go Away! **No more water, no more darkness. It took them away from me. I don't want to see it. **No!'/ **_A strangely familiar voice pleaded over and over.

_A puzzle being put together by a family of three; two adult humans, both of them smiling warmly; a boat being tossed mercilessly across the angry waves; white hot bolts of electricity striking the small boat._

_Darkness, stifling darkness; a broken soul; fear, despair, and millions of other negative emotions swirled in a frenzy around him._

Slowly, the image began to fade away, and for a moment or two Yami was afraid. He had just experienced something terrible, and what made it more confusing was that the human had actually survived it. His probes softened and retreated slightly, not completely leaving but not staying extremely deep in the human's psyche.

He could easily feel the human's aura fade, signifying that intense negative emotions were plaguing the broken soul. He heard a whimper, which was soon followed but whispers. The human was pleading.

/'_I don't want to see it… make it go away…somebody…help me…'_ The voice paused, sobs racking its frame. _'I don't want…to be alone…'/_

Something tugged at his heart. The human sounded so…broken; it reminded Yami of a lost child that had just realized that he would never see his parents again. His probes evaporated completely and he approached the broken soul once again. This time, actually looking at the shape it was in.

It was such a stark contrast to his own that he was momentarily stunned. The aura was a sickly, pale shade of purple, probably originally amethyst; and it was trying to hide behind the ruin of a shell. Its barrier was severely damaged, showing large cracks and most of it was deteriorating

The wounds traveled deep, signifying that something had happened when the human was young, probably about eight years old. There was something about this aura that seemed familiar to Yami, like he had seen it before.

It was pretty much a broken soul desperately clinging to a single thread. For some reason, Yami didn't want to see this human's light extinguished. He could tell that if this soul was properly cared for, it would have been one of the brightest souls he had ever seen.

His aura surrounded the broken soul once again, carefully so that he wouldn't harm it any more than it already was. He could feel it shed away from him like before, but Yami softened his aura so that it wouldn't seem so threatening. He let a soothing feeling flow through his aura to the damaged soul, hoping that this would calm the human down. The human's soul hesitated, but soon enough it relaxed into Yami's hold.

'_Why am I comforting a human?' _Yami thought to himself. Humans were supposed to be heartless two legged creatures, not capable of anything but trouble. The other auras he had sensed were all the same, but this one was different. He couldn't place his finger on it, but he was sure that he had felt this aura before.

Yami was brought out of his musings when he felt the human's soul huddle against his own, like it felt safe there. Yami could tell that the boy's soul was tired and it acted like it was content at the moment.

He knew that he should leave now, before he ended up getting attached to this human. He had almost completely withdrawn when he felt the human's soul unconsciously reach out towards him.

/'_No…don't leave…don't leave me alone…I don't want to be alone again…'/ _

Yami stopped. That voice simply tugged at his heart. It sounded so desperate. The human's soul was still reaching out to him; its strength was waning very fast and would probably collapse real soon.

He, very carefully, reached back towards the human's soul. A tendril of his own soul fused with some of his magic surrounded the human's mind in a warm embrace. He used this hold to give off a comforting presence, intentionally making the boy more tired than he already was. Yami was certain that the boy would reject his influence, and so he was surprised when the human didn't really resist.

The wounded soul clutched tightly to Yami's aura, trying to rebuild itself on top of the ruins and unintentionally using Yami's aura as a brace. Yami noticed this and became concerned; he knew that unless the human cleaned away the ruble before repairing, it would never hold for very long. He had half a mind to help the human, but he would need the soul's consent and cooperation for it to be successful.

This would probably cause problems in the future, but he allowed the human's soul to continue with what it was doing.

A thud brought him back to the physical world; those stupid humans were moving him again. He got ready to fight back when he felt a tug from the human's wounded soul. Turning his attention back to it, his mind's eye could see half lidded amethyst eyes staring beseechingly at him.

_/'Don't leave…please don't leave me alone…'/_

Yami's crimson eye softened at the sight; he began to whisper soothing things to the wounded soul and reinforce his request to sleep. The amethyst eyes slowly began to close themselves, but the human still seemed determined to stay awake.

His magic twisted around just the right nerve and the human quickly fade into sleep. Yami whispered something into his mind just before he was completely gone.

'_Don't worry. I won't leave you. '_

He watched as the human's soul relaxed and knew that it was asleep. He took a moment to ponder what exactly had happened. The aura seemed familiar and it had subconsciously recognized Yami's aura almost immediately. He also wondered what that small shred of hope that the human held on to was.

* * *

A small jolt in to his system reminded him that he was still a prisoner. He pulled his attention away from the sleeping soul and focused back onto his physical surroundings. Something was different about the water he was in; it was starting to taste really funny. His crimson eyes opened in an attempt to figure out what was happening. He was still in the same box as he was in earlier, but a majority of the human's auras were gone and there was a number of about five left. 

The box hadn't been moved yet, so Yami assumed that they had him right were they wanted him.

The remaining human auras showed that they were thoughtful, curious, and they all had this disconcerting cold edge to them, a lot like a shark. An unintelligible noise wafted through the confines of the box. It sounded harsh and dead-toned with an occasional rise in volume.

It took Yami a few seconds to realize that he was hearing the human language being spoken.

Another sound could be heard underneath the human's language. A low pitched whining sound, like it was trying to imitate an angered electric eel.

Yami's eyes darted around, a change in the atmosphere was felt and he was trying to find the source. The water started to feel heavy and it seemed to press on him from all sides.

Beginning to panic, Yami tried to beat his tail against the floor of the box causing the restraints to bit into his skin. His back arched as he tried to escape the painful feeling. He hissed in pain as it constricted tightly around his chest, close to where his Millennium Puzzle rested.

The Millennium Puzzle was a symbol of high rank and strength. Not very many people have been able to successfully complete it and all of the ones who did were of royal blood. The puzzle helped for a direct link to the ocean, allowing the bearer to access the ocean's magic on top of his own. It helped the bearer accomplish the more difficult spells.

The puzzle was probably trying to adjust to the new water and unintentionally causing its current bearer pain. Yami could tell that something was wrong with the water he was in; it tasted bad, like that weird taste you get in the morning, and it tasted metallic. The human's auras were close, watching as the events unfolded.

It took Yami a total of two seconds to realize that the humans had put something in the water and that was what was causing the puzzle to react.

The pressure continued to escalate, causing Yami to see stars. White hot lines began to snake their way across the surface of the puzzle, resembling cracks as they grew longer. Yami could hear the metal edges shift against each other with the strain. He could feel the puzzle's magic retreat into its confines as it was coming apart.

In a sudden, dread filled, moment, the puzzle shattered; its pieces falling through the water, no longer holding its unique shine. Yami's body went limp as the puzzle fell apart. The pressure was no longer there and soon enough shock and dread filled its place.

'_T-the puzzle…broke?' _he floated there numbly in his restraints, not able to grasp what had just happened. The chemical in the water was beginning to take affect as his mind was being thrown into unconsciousness

The clicking sounds of the puzzle's pieces on the bottom of the box were the last the last thing his conscious mind heard.

* * *

**_Well, there you have it. I hope that it wasn't to choppy, I was wresling with my writers block for most of this chapter._**

**_Next chapter, I am going to brong in a couple more characters that I'm sure that you will recognized._**

**_Should I write a short chapter about what happened in the merpeople kingdom after Yami was captured? Let me know._**

**_Plz review._**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hello readers, Sry i havent updated in so long; i had trouble figuring out how to word this chapter. I hope that you like it. **_

_**I'm sry if the characters in this chapter act a litttle different so bear with me.**_

_**Read and Review.**_

* * *

_Crystal Waters_

_Chapter 6_

* * *

A tall man with short brown hair, walked down the dully light hallway, a small silver suitcase in hand. His white and blue trench coat flared behind him and his icy blue eyes stared straight ahead. His pace was brisk but not too fast, he seemed to purposely be walking slower so that his younger companion could keep up with his long strides.

His companion was a young boy, probably nine or ten years old. He had long black hair, and wide brown eyes, and was about half the height of the blue eyed man. He was wearing a pair of jeans, blue sneakers, and a matching blue sweatshirt. Five black folders were entrapped in his arms.

The two companions' demeanor was rather different. The taller of the two acted all aloof and lacked any visible emotions, while the other one was excitedly taking in his surroundings and his emotions were easy to read.

You never would have guessed that the two were related.

They walked silently through the halls, heading towards the back research room.

"Seto," the black haired boy began, a questioning look appearing on his face. "What are we studying again?"

The tall brown haired man, who was obviously called Seto, sighed as he put a hand on his forehead in an attempt to prevent the emerging headache.

"This is the last time I will tell you, I will not repeat myself again." Seto replied with a bored and slightly amused tone, although you couldn't hear the amusement unless you were really listing hard. "The facility had just recently discovered some new species of fish and we are the only ones with enough skill and caliber to efficiently study it."

"And you could practically buy the research facility if you wanted to." Mokuba snickered under his breath. A rare smile tugged at the corners of Seto's mouth at his little brother's comment. They were quite the wealthy bunch; inheritance money from their deceased adopted father.

They arrived at the backroom without very much opposition; one of the secretaries didn't seem to believe that Mokuba had been granted access. Yes, Mokuba was only ten years old, and Seto was only sixteen, but they both were extremely smart and they certainly were smarter than the researchers they saw here.

They entered the back room without fuss; the two guards that were stationed at the door were told to make sure that nobody would disturb their study.

Mokuba flipped on the light switch and they waited until all the lights had warmed up before they set up their equipment.

Seto removed his laptop from his suitcase and set it on the table near where they would be working. He turned the small machine on and got it ready to record new information. Mokuba was busy turning on various machines and running diagnostics on the research computer.

It didn't take them very long to have everything up and sunning, and after about then minutes they were ready to begin.

They both read over what the other scientists had recorded; from what they had written, it seemed as if the creature was rather hostile and very strong. Its immune system was different form other sea life and it took a few hours for the strongest tranquilizers to start working.

"Hey Seto, come look at this." Mokuba called, drawing Seto's attention away form what he was reading and focusing it on what Mokuba was talking about. When Mokuba was sure that he had his big brother's attention he continued, "This creature seemed to have come with some kind of object." He looked around for said object and upon spotting it he brought it over to the table.

Glittering pieces of gold, each one of them were different geometric shapes, were clinking against one another on the bottom of a clear container. Among the pieces were two that were noticeably different, one of them had a strange hoop with a weathered brown cord tied to it, and the other piece was flat and had a weird eye design engraved on the front.

Seto reached over to touch one of the glittering pieces after Mokuba had stepped away. His hand was only a few centimeters away when a sudden jolt of electricity, like static shock, arched from the golden piece to his outstretched hand. Seto jerked back his hand with a surprised wince.

"Are you okay?" Mokuba asked worriedly.

Seto's face remained impassive as he inspected the electrified hand. It was slightly red and the nerves still tingled, but other than that it wasn't anything serious.

"I'm fine, it was just some static shock." Mokuba didn't seem like he believed that it was just static shock, and upon seeing this, Seto decided to try and prove this. "Well, the static should be gone now." He reached for the piece again.

Only to be met with an even bigger shock than last time. The currents made his hand twitch momentarily and soon subsided, but the fact that the charge was bigger made Seto suspicious.

Seto's eyes narrowed at the golden pieces that were glittering in the not so innocent light. He put the lid back on the container and set it aside, saying, "There must be a defense mechanism set up, I'll have to look at it later."

Mokuba nodded in agreement and took the container away so that it wouldn't cause any problems.

Five minutes passed before they were done going over the collected data and were ready to begin. They moved over to where the large fish container lay; Mokuba attached the container to a larger machine that would make moving it simple and easy.

The container itself was cleverly designed even if it was simple. Restraints were bolted to the bottom of the rectangular box, and the reinforced glass was double laid with a removable piece of wood in between them which was used for concealment. The container was airtight, leaving no air pockets and a mini-filter was built into the side.

Once the container was in position, Seto removed the top wooden wall and got his first glimpse of the creature through the two paneled glass.

At first he was shocked to the face and body of a human beneath the glass; ebony colored hair was spiked up like a star and tipped in crimson. Sharp lightening shaped bangs framed a tan, chiseled face; narrow eyes were closed in slumber. A tan torso and well toned arms were belted down to the bottom of the container. The wrists were red from constant pulling against the restraints and his stomach appeared to be bruised.

But the shock of seeing a teen under the glass was nothing compared to what was in place pf the teen's other half of his body.

A crimson fish's tail.

The tan skin of the torso melded softly into red scales at the waist, two trailing side fins were attached to his hips. The tail was a striking crimson color that, when hit with the right light, would shift into a shiny black near the bottom fin. Said tail fin was mostly black with underlying veins of crimson, the side fins were colored in the same way.

It took Seto a few seconds to recover from the shock, but soon enough the shock changed into indignation and anger was starting to rear its head. He thought that the research people were trying to pull a sick joke on him, but upon closer inspection he changed his mind.

The teen was breathing.

* * *

**_I know it was kinda short, sry. but dont worry, next chapter will be contnuing off of this chapter (and they meet Yugi)_**

**_I am trying to figure out how i want this story to go and how long i want it to be. I am open to chapter suggestions. Like how should Yugi and Yami meet? What happens when tehy do? So on and so forth._**

**_And jsut a little side note, I will be calling Seto Kiaba, Seto when he is around Mokuba and he will be called Kiaba around anyone else._**

**_Plz REview!!!!!_**


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

'_How could that be possible?!' _Seto thought frantically; he couldn't really find it in himself to believe that this kind of creature actually existed. He struggled mentally for a few moments, his eyes betraying none of his inner turmoil. He looked for the tell tale signs of an air tank or some kind of zipper that would prove that this was a joke; but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find anything to disprove the purely simple truth. 

"Wow." Mokuba's hushed voice drifted across Seto's mind. He quickly traded in his disbelief in favor of his usual demeanor. He would play their game, and when he was done, he would sue them into the next century.

"It's a mermaid." Mokuba whispered as he looked at the creature in the box. Seto had to stop himself from smiling at his brother's apparent awe. It was rather amusing.

"Merman."

"Huh?" Mokuba looked up at his brother, a question in his expression.

"It's defiantly male, so it would be called a merman." He replied in the usual clipped tone short, simple, and to the point.

"Oh…" Mokuba continued to stare at the merman while Seto went to the table and retrieved his watertight gloves. He returned to the container and stood next to Mokuba.

"Mokuba, I want you to go and get the Heart and Temp. Reader, we need to begin as soon as possible."

Mokuba jerked put of his awed trance at his brother's voice, and once he realized what he wanted he took off to get the aforementioned items.

Ten minutes passed as Seto worked on the physical inspection. He couldn't find any visible gills nor did he find a breathing device. The tan skin of the upper torso felt similar to a human's, but there was a hardly noticeable texture of scales; a steady pulse throbbed under its skin.

The hands were slightly webbed and it appeared that the webbing was retractable; the fingernails were a little longer than a human's and probably used for self-defense.

Its face was built the same as a teenager's, the angles were sharp and defined; the ears were pointed and they also had a small amount of webbing. Its outrageous hairstyle was unusual even if humans had come up with crazier, and the hair's texture was soft like the creature had just used conditioner. Webbed ears stuck out of the tri-colored hair, it's color matching the shades of the tail.

He took some skin samples before he went to inspect the reality bending tail that was attached to the human-like teen before him. He read the heart beat and found it close to be close to the human's and the temperature was a few degrees above a human's. He wrote those things down and sent Mokuba to record the information on his laptop while he went back to the physical inspection.

The tan skin of its torso smoothly changed into the scales of the tale. On the each side of its hips was a separate fin, each one was about half the length of the tail and three flexible, spine-like bones made up the structure and a very strong web-like membrane crossed each one. The side fin started in a sharp crimson color, matching the color of the tail, and faded into purple then ebony black. The tail had a similar coloring pattern, with the fin being mostly black criss-crossed with reddish purple veins.

The scales were sharp and defined in shape, and each one was about half the size of a dime; and they covered the entire lower half of the creature's body.

The fin was one of the more interesting designs Seto had ever seen on any type if fish. The side of the fin was divided into six parts, three on each side. The three parts were pointed on the bottom and it appeared that they would be able to become streamline by folding in on themselves.

The muscles beneath the scales had a design that was close to a dolphins', but there was a flexibility and thinness that probably allowed for sharp turns and narrow spaces.

Seto took some scale samples, jumping a few inches in the air when he saw the tail twitch. He was rather glad that he had sent Mokuba out of the room to go get a snack. Seto ran a gloved hand back over the blood red scales and about a spilt second later he jumped back, startled.

The tail had twitched.

It didn't move very far, seeing as how it was belted down with titanium bands, but it had still moved and that was enough evidence for Seto to realize that the tranquilizer was wearing off.

He could see the minor movements of those trailing side fins and how the fingers twitched briefly, the water rippling outward at the movement.

Seto double-checked the time and the dosage amount of the tranquilizer the creature had been given. The creature hadn't been unconscious very long, but it was showing signs of waking.

He rechecked the restraints, making sure that they were secure, and repositioned the glass top back on. First reports done by amateur scientists were normally over exaggerated and held little truth, but he wasn't going to take his chances.

Seto waited for a few moments, wanting to know if the strange creature would awaken, but soon enough the twitching subsided and it went still.

The entire room went silent; digital clocks made no sound, the computers toneless droning faded into the background and his breathing became silent.

Complete and utter silence normally allowed the unnoticed things to be recognized and accounted for. He used this silence to clear his thoughts and relax slightly.

He was about to go looking for Mokuba, who was taking too long as it is, when he noticed an unmistakable sound.

Soft breathing announced itself throughout the silence.

Kiaba stopped what he was about to do. He was the only one in here and there shouldn't be any breathing other than his own. It was rather difficult to pin-point its exact location, the computers and other machines made it hard, and the fact that the breathing itself was extremely quiet didn't help any.

He went around the room, turning off various machines as he went along. The breathing sound got slightly louder as he approached the holding tank, but he still couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from. He would be able to find it if he was given the time…

"Hey Seto." Mokuba whispered rather loudly, startling Seto and making him lose his train of thought, he hadnt even heard him come in. He looked up to see Mokuba standing over by the back of the holding tank, where the tank came closest to the wall. It looked like there was a small alcove hidden there, in a clever spot too, the entrance was rather small, allowing only a small person or a contortionist access.

He walked over to where Mokuba was standing, wondering what he wanted. Seto noticed that this was where that breathing sound came from.

A small boy lay there, curled up in the tiny alcove.

* * *

**__**

**_Hello, sry about the long wait; i've had several cases of writer's block and I had to cut this chapter in half. _**

**_Seto is probably alittle out of character, I've never wrote about him so it's alittle hard. I know that things dont make him jump, but oh well._**

**_This chapter was really just describing the merman's biological design. Throughout this chapter the merman is still in the container thing, just to let you know._**

**_I cant help but have the felling that I'm repeating myself when I write my stories. Let me know if My stories start to repeat themselves or if I start to ramble. Sry but I stink at writting dioloug(sp?)._**

**_Plz review._**


	8. Chapter 8

_Hello people, it's me again and I brought with me another chapter to **'Crystal Waters'.** _

_I was going to post a different chapter than this one, but I'm having trouble with it, it just sounds so horrible that I want to cringe every time I read it. So I brainstormed and wrote this chapter instead._

_I'm trying to build up Yugi's character and emotional standpoint, so this is hopefully what this chapter does._

_This is what happend to Yugi after he 'met' Yami (more like got attacked by) and before Seto and Mokuba found him. Just to give you a time frame._

_**I have an extra note at the bottom, plz read!!**_

_'thoughts/emotions'_

_'/another voice in Yugi's head that doenst belong to him/'_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

(Yugi's POV) 

He was tired, but didn't remember doing anything to warrant this feeling and not giving it much thought. He also felt warm, like he was tucked into bed after spending a day in the cold.

Yugi snuggled into the mental warmth he had found himself in, thoroughly enjoying the reprieve form the physical world and its inhabitants. He found himself trying to describe the feeling he was having currently, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Was he sick? No, he knew what being sick felt like and this was totally opposite. He wasn't sad, or angry, nor was he despairing. It was such a long lost emotion that it took he a few minutes to figure out what it was.

Yugi was content, a feeling he didn't normally experience.

He was loosing himself to the sensation, wanting to be submerged in it forever. If this was a dream, then he hoped that he went into a coma and never wake up. If this was insanity, then go ahead and cart him away to the nearest asylum. He didn't care if he was crazy or sick, just as long as he didn't feel alone again.

A small thought occurred to Yugi as he prayed that he wasn't dreaming. If he was sane, then what was this warmth he was curled up in. It didn't feel like anything he immediately recognized and it didn't feel like an extension of himself. So… what was it?

He could feel the warmth moving, ever so slightly, giving him the impression of ripples on the surface of the water. It was comforting in its own way; he kind of recognized this feeling, like when you know what something is but just couldn't name it yet.

It also seemed like it was conscious, a separate living thing; but Yugi passed that off quickly, it would have to be magic for that to be true and magic didn't exist…did it?

Yugi's mind was going into a type of overdrive as he considered the possibilities, his mind working extra hard to focus since there seemed to be some kind of damper on his thought process.

A twirling motion came from the warmth, curling around Yugi and calming his fast moving mind. Yugi's thought process came to a sudden and abrupt stop and he was pulled into the warmth. His mind's pattern returning to what it was earlier, on more of an emotional level.

He sighed, already forgotten what he was thinking about earlier as he snuggled back into the warmth, rejoining back to his contented feeling of earlier.

He hadn't felt this safe since the day his parents died.

A sob suddenly chocked out of his throat. He thought he was over this; it had been long enough the pain should have gone away. The pain and hopelessness of loosing his parents built up rapidly and clawed at him with its grimy hands, trying to drown him it its hold.

Despair and fear logged themselves in his mind and began to drill their stories into him once again. Memories of the foster homes and orphanages, bullies and antagonists, uncaring adults that thought he should just get over it, and the thing that had started it all…

The storm.

The storm was the reason Yugi is deathly afraid of water, the storm took his parents away from him, and the storm almost killed him too.

He was so cold, living in a frozen wasteland with no sign of life or hope. Shadows of death tracking him, hunting down the prey that was stolen form them long ago. Always tempting him with false hopes of a family only to take that away when it would hurt the most.

Happiness forgotten, he probably would had be lost in the depression forever if not for what happened next.

Bright light, warm light, cool and gentle like the sun at morning's time, striking through the shadows of death banishing them back to their realm. The light searched him out, found him, and wrapped him into its warmth, driving away his fears and his anguish.

He could almost imagine someone whispering soothing phrases over and over into his ear, telling him to not fear, that he wasn't alone anymore, that the shadows weren't going to get him.

He latched himself onto the light, crying his heart out and releasing all his pent up emotions.

The bright light turned into a gentle glow, providing a comfortable amount of light. Warmth once again seeped into his bones, driving away the icy chill of his caged emotions and almost lulling him to sleep.

Yugi gripped tightly to this warmth, this presence. He didn't want to be alone with his memories again; they only brought pain and fear. Yugi could feel himself shaking as his sobs turned into whimpers.

The gentle warmth petted his head, running metaphorical fingers across his scalp and making him more tired than before. The whispers were silent now, the presence lending a quiet comfort as Yugi snuggled into it.

Yugi's eyes began to close as his fears were soothed away. He could feel his already tired mind falling into a foggy, content state of being.

But no matter how much his mind wanted to rest, Yugi just wouldn't let himself fall. He was afraid that this would turn out to be a dream and that he would wake reawaken to the cold and despair of the outside world. He was starting to become desperate, his emotions still raw, and a new kind of despair began to creep upon him. He didn't want to be alone again.

'Don't leave me! Not alone again…please don't leave! No more pain…I don't want to be alone…don't leave!'

He kept repeating the same thing over and over again in his head like a broken record. Yugi tightened his grip on the warm presence that was surrounding him, not wanting to ever let go.

The warmth shifted, drawing him more fully into its embrace, drowning Yugi's newborn fears in its light. Soothing whispers ghosted over his ear, calming his frazzled nerves and lulling him back into a sleepy state.

'_Don't leave me…don't leave me alone…please…I don't want to be alone anymore…'_

A sense of security and comfort flowed into him, like a gentle rain on a desert land. His emotions soon turned back into what they were earlier; contentment, safety, being cared for.

'_/Don't worry, little one./'_

Yugi could feel something moving in his mind, like a gentle undercurrent was pulling him deeper into the throws of slumber.

'_/I wont leave you./'_

And with that, Yugi was once again in sleep's embrace, comforted by the whispers that echoed in his ears.

* * *

_to be continued...

* * *

Thanx for reading!! _

Plz read: **I need ideas for diologue between Yugi, Mokuba, and Seto. I am absolutle horrible at conversation so I really need help with this.**

Do not be afraid to let me know if I start to repeat parts of my story. I need someone to be completly blunt with the structure of my story. Critism is helpful and wanted.

**PLZ REVIEW!!!!!!!!**

Thanx for reading!! Thanx for reading!! Thanx for reading!! Thanx for reading!! 


	9. Chapter 9

_Hello my faithful readers. I am very sry about the lateness of this chapter, I had to completly redo the entire first part (seeing as how it stunk horribly) and I wanted to have this certain scene happen in this chapter._

_Wow. I believe that this is the longest chapter I have ever writen. It showed up as 15 pages on microsoft, and I am extremely proud of myself. (Even if it did take about a month to write.) And I'm hoping for more reviews than usual since the chapter is so long._

_Just a reminder. This is a family fic, so there will be no yaoi. I have nothing against the people who like that kind of stuff, but I am uncomfortable with writing it. So, all things that happen between Yugi and Yami are done in a brotherly way._

**_There is a very important note at the end of this chapter. Plz read it!_**

_Disclaimer: I dont own any t.v. show._

* * *

**_Crystal Waters_**

**_Chapter 9_**

**_by: gecko-grl-2_**

* * *

_(This part of the story is mostly done from my point of view and Seto's.)_

* * *

A young boy laid there, curled up underneath a tattered blanket. His hair laid matted flat against his skull and a cherubic face was hidden in two dangerously thin arms. Pale skin, dotted with trailing silver scars, was pulled tightly over his thin frame. 

The lower part of his body was covered with the thin blanket, hiding its form from prying eyes. Two small feet emerged form the bottom, their soles bare and dirty from walking barefoot.

The two Kaiba brothers were awed by the resemblance this boy held to the caged merman.

A few minor differences were noticeable now that they looked, the boy looked to be about ten years old and the merman was defiantly in better shape that he was. The hair was missing the few lightening bolts that shot up through the merman's spiky black hair, giving a less wild look.

"Who do you think that is?" Mokuba whispered, his eyes wide and filled with curiosity.

Seto thought about it for a moment, mentally scanning his memories for some mention of this boy but came up zero.

"He looks like he's homeless," Seto stated. "The manager didn't say anything about a boy being sighted here."

"Maybe he didn't know?" Mokuba offered.

"I doubt it." Seto snorted; with all the security cameras and guards around here how could they _not_ notice the little boy that was pretty much starving behind a see-through tank? One that hadn't even been filled with water until yesterday?

It was strange, this boy's expression. With the his appearance being do unhealthy looking you would think that he would have slept with a grimace on his face, but that wasn't the case apparently. A subtle look of contentment and security rested on the boy's features, the expression strangely detached form his surroundings.

Seto would have thought that he boy was dead if not for the slight up and down motion of his chest and the quiet breaths that reached their ears.

They both watched in rapt attention as the boy started to wake. The boy was really quiet; probably an acquired trait, and a silent yawn passed his lips.

The boy's face lifted out of his arms as he stretched, working out the kinks he always got after sleeping. His exposed arms exhibited the many silver scars, some of which appeared to be recent.

Eyelids fluttered open to revel crystal clear, amethyst eyes.

Eyes that froze up in fear at the sight of the two brothers that were staring at him.

The boy whimpered and started to inch away, cowering into the wall behind him. His wide amethyst eyes were trained on the people in front of him, watching for any hostility. New people always told the guards about him and then Ushio would have a reason to beat him up.

The boy studied the two people with a wary curiosity. The smaller one, the one with black hair, seemed to be about ten or eleven years old; and the taller one has short brown hair and looked to be about sixteen years old. The smaller had soft gray eyes that shone with curiosity and the taller had icy blue eyes, like steel titanium.

Seto watched the boy study them; he saw the wary glances and the jittery attitude. The boy acted like a cornered and wounded animal, trying to find out if they were friend or foe. The tension was thick enough in the air to be cut with a plastic butter knife, which was thick enough to even make Seto uncomfortable.

A sudden thought made Seto slowly get up and walk over to where his briefcase was, ignoring the frightened reaction of the boy. He bypassed his briefcase and stopped at a blue and red cooler that Mokuba had brought in earlier. He dug around in the cooler until he found what he was looking for and headed back to where Mokuba was. (But not before closing the cooler back up.)

Seto knew that Mokuba was better at getting people to trust him, so he handed the object to Mokuba with a whisper to try his best. He took a few steps back and let Mokuba work his magic.

Mokuba smiled when he realized what Seto had given him; he turned back to the boy in the alcove and held out the key to communication.

A peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

The teen immediately stopped inching away at the sight of food. His eyes fastened on the mouth-watering treat that was only a few feet away. The wonderful scent wafted across the alcove and danced teasingly under his nose. He took an unconscious step towards the piece of food and his stomach announced its presence.

Mokuba almost giggled at the loud noise the boy's stomach made, but stopped when he reminded himself that the kid probably hadn't eaten in a few days. He looked at the teen's face and saw the hunger and pain and soon made eye contact.

Terrified amethyst eyes starred beseechingly at him. They were practically begging him to not be teasing him. They held millions of different emotions, fear, pain, hunger, and accusation. What terrified Mokuba the most was the fact that the boy practically expected him to be torturing him.

"You can have it if you want." Mokuba offered, taking a small step closer and extending the hand that held the sandwich.

The boy's eyes went from Mokuba, to the sandwich, and back again. He seemed to be trying to make a decision as he inched forward.

"No g-guards?" The boy's soft voice was quiet and hoarse, probably for lack of use.

_'Why is he asking about the guards?'_ Mokuba wondered.

While Mokuba was wondering about the boy's question, Seto found himself with a few answers. The boy must either be a prisoner or a runaway, and the guards beat him if he is found yet they don't throw him out.

If this was true then Seto could understand the boy's reaction.

"We won't call the guards." Seto spoke, watching as the boy jumped at his voice. Seto had already gone beck to work on his laptop, filing through the recently gained info and running a search on missing kids.

The tri-colored boy relaxed slightly at what Seto said, he didn't seem like the type that would lie or cause pain intentionally, and he hadn't called the guards yet.

The boy had made up his mind, if he got in trouble for what he was about to do, well, at least he wouldn't go hungry.

Mokuba's attention was still focused on his elder brother, so he didn't see the boy quickly inching towards him.

He quickly, yet quietly, inched forward; his eyes trained on the black-haired kid, watching for any movement. He reached out with his right hand, coming closer to the desired item, and…

…

Seto was close to laughing, not outwardly mind you; his facial expression was as blank as a wall in a hospital room. He watched as the boy, who was trying to imitate a turtle's shell only a few moments before, snuck forward and snatched the sandwich straight out of Mokuba's hand without him even noticing.

The boy's action could mean either one of two things: the boy was testing them to see if they were going to keep their word, or he was too hungry to really care about the consequences.

Seto made a nonchalant motion with his hand, silently telling Mokuba to look behind him. Mokuba obeyed and his jaw dropped when he realized that the sandwich was no longer in his possession and the boy had already inhaled about two-thirds of it in three seconds flat.

He clicked his jaw shut, before Seto could make one of his famous comments, and turned to look at said person with a question on his lips.

"When did he do that?"

* * *

About half and hour later, the boy was becoming more and more comfortable around the two Kaibas. Mokuba had coaxed him out of the alcove a little while ago, even if he hadn't left the 'safety zone' of eight feet yet, and was currently putting together a 100-piece puzzle with Mokuba while Seto typed away on his laptop. The boy was really good at games, especially the puzzles and card games. He had beaten Mokuba a couple times when they were playing War and other card games. 

Seto had been watching when they played those card games, and was rather impressed at the boy's strategy. It was that of a true gamer, and Seto found himself more inclined to like the boy.

The boy was quiet, and had this habit of suddenly shrinking in on himself and virtually disappearing. He was really jumpy too, flinching at any sudden movements or loud noises.

"How old are you?"

Seto's train of thought was interrupted; Mokuba and the boy had just finished another game of War, making the score 4 to 2, the boy in the lead, when Mokuba suddenly asked his question.

The boy seemed startled at the direct question; he fidgeted slightly and looked everywhere but at Mokuba. He hadn't said many words and he had only spoken once.

"Is it okay if I guessed?" Mokuba had seen how uncomfortable he had made the boy and didn't want him to feel cornered.

The boy gave a hesitant nod and looked quickly at the floor, his hands clasped together in his lap.

"Hmm…are you ten years old?"

A shake of his head and an amused look swam across his face.

"No? Well, how about eleven?"

Another negative shake and a slightly flustered look replaced his amusement.

"Nine? Eight? Twelve?"

Each guess was met with a negative gesture and the boy was sporting an adorable pout now.

"Fifteen?" Seto's voice now joined in the guessing. He had seen the boy's flustered reaction and figured that the boy was older than he looked.

The boy nodded furiously with a triumphant smile on his lips. A pout was directed at Mokuba with a _do-I-really-look-like-I'm-eight_ type of look sporting the childish features.

And all Mokuba could say was, "So…you're four years older than me?"

* * *

Seto was once again typing away on his computer, updating his software and creating higher defenses. Mokuba had gone to the bathroom and the nameless teen was playing a game of solitaire, and winning rather quickly. 

He looked up from his computer screen when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. The tri-colored teen was walking away from his 'safety zone' and cautiously making his way towards a table that was nearby Seto, the table that had the merman's artifact on it. Seto calmly watched as the teen neared the small rubber container; he didn't take the teen as someone who would steal, but he watched just in case.

The teen's eyes were slightly unfocused, almost like he was in some kind of trance. His walk was smoother than before and his footfalls didn't make any sound whatsoever. When he got within three feet of the artifact, easy reaching distance, he stopped moving and just stared blankly at it.

In one fluid motion, the teen reached forward and brushed his fingertips against the smooth surface.

Seto awaited the gasp of pain that should accompany the contact, only to have his jaw metaphorically drop at what actually happened.

The teen was holding the eyepiece in his hand without any hint of pain or electricity being discharged. His small, scarred hand wandered over the smooth surface, feeling the crevices of the eye and the sharp points of the edges. He removed his right hand from the golden piece, supporting it in his left palm, and ran his fingers across the other pieces in the rubber container.

A small glow seemed to be coming from the pieces, pulsing in a rhythmic motion. The teen gathered two pieces and looked at them intently, the eyepiece lay forgotten on the table, his posture was relaxed and his eyes were half-lidded. He brought his two hands together, allowing the two pieces to hover millimeters from each other before bringing them together with a resounding,

_Click_

"I'm back!!!"

The teen jumped at the sudden noise, dropping the golden pieces back into the container in the process. His eyes were no longer half-lidded and his body was as tense as a bowstring pulled back.

He seemed to suddenly notice that he was out of his self-proclaimed 'safety zone' and he darted back with a speed that rivaled a cheetah.

"What happened?" Mokuba asked, confused as the short teen speed by.

Seto kept his eyes on where the boy was hiding behind the alcove as he answered Mokuba's question. "I believe you spooked him."

Mokuba tried to get the teen out of the alcove, but the boy wouldn't budge and inch. He just stayed as motionless as possible and the sound of ragged breathing echoed against the lifeless walls.

Seto sighed; he knew that the boy wouldn't be coming back out today.

"Come on Mokuba, we should get home."

Mokuba knew that tone, it was the _there's-nothing-you-can-do-about-it-so-leave-it-alone_ tone; but before he left, he wanted to say something to the cowering teen.

"You know that we wont ever hurt you; we're not like everyone else." He said in hopes of a response. Upon getting none he left the cooler, still half-full of food and water, just on the inside of the alcove and went to the door where Seto was waiting.

"Hey kid," Seto called. "Other people are going to be in here later today, so you might want to stay hidden." They both turned to walk out the doorway when stopped by a soft voice.

"Yugi."

Mokuba turned around, spying the teen at the exit of the alcove and looking at them intently.

"Yugi? Is that your name?" Mokuba asked.

The teen gave a hesitant nod and a small smile crept onto his lips.

"Well, Yugi. My name's Mokuba. I'll see you tomorrow."

Another nod and Mokuba exited with his brother, an excited expression on his face.

And in the background, the small broken pieces of a puzzle glowed briefly, showing the two pieces that were now connected.

* * *

_**(I was going to end the chapter here, but i decided not to.)**_

(_Yugi's POV)_

* * *

'_What a strange day.'_

Yugi sighed, relaxing his muscles and leaned against the gray wall. His eyes were closed, hiding the amethyst orbs, and his bangs laid flat against his face, the short one in the middle tickling his nose as he breathed.

The two scientists, _'Mokuba and Seto, I think were their names,' _had left about thirty minutes ago and no one else had entered the room since then. Yugi was thankful for the silence, for it gave him time to think.

When the two had first come in, Yugi was asleep; which was strange in itself because he always woke at the slightest noise. He could have sworn that he was dreaming, but unfortunately the details had eluded him, he only knew that he felt warm and safe.

'_I'll think about that later, right know I need to contemplate the possibility of people who don't want to get rid of me at first sight.'_

He had been scared of them at first, afraid of being beaten or sent back to the orphanage. But the black-haired kid seemed nice, '_even if he did mistake me for a ten year old, that sandwich and the games had tilted things in his favor.'_

The other guy was a little harder to categorize; he looked to be at least sixteen years old, even if he acted older. His cold attitude had made Yugi worried that he was just like all the others, but his actions had proved otherwise. It had been his idea of the sandwich and he had gotten Yugi's age right on the first guess. That made Yugi like him very much.

'_But I should still be wary of them,'_ Yugi thought. _'They could just be putting up a good face, and I don't want to get betrayed, I don't think that I could take it.'_

Oh well, if they did then they did, there was nothing that Yugi could so about it. He just hoped that he wouldn't get hurt in the end.

'_Okay…I need to stop thinking about that, it wont make it any better.' _Yugi thought to himself, his hands ran absently over the scars on his arms, a nervous habit he had developed over the years when he thought about his beatings. Unfortunately, his thoughts had no control over his memories.

Old bruises and cuts reminded him how he had received them. Larger people cornering him before hitting him, cutting him, and dragged him down with their words.

'_Worthless.'_ They called him. _'Can't even defend himself.' 'Why would anyone want to save a puny runt, a hopeless case?' _They sneered as they told him this, backing up their words with punches and knifes.

The saying _'Sticks and Stock can break my bones, but words will never hurt me'_ were complete nonsense to Yugi. The words they said hurt worse than any beating he had ever received.

And Yugi believed them.

He didn't tell anyone, he had been on the receiving end of too many threats to keep him form speaking. Besides, whom would they believe? Their own employees or the worthless, little orphan that ran away form the orphanage?

**Clank**

The sudden noise jolted Yugi out of his depressing thoughts as he jumped nearly five feet in the air.

The main door to the research room had opened to let in five people all dressed in white uniforms. They were all talking at once, probably going over what they were supposed to do.

Yugi went still, reminding himself that he shouldn't make any noise or be seen. Seto's warning came back to him and he realized that he was actually warning him instead of threatening him.

So, he stayed where he was, watching the workers intently.

Two of the five had gone over to the computers and had typed in what Yugi expected to be passwords. The other three were standing near that weird opaque container that had been brought in earlier, and they attached certain parts to what looked like a crane.

One of the people at the computers, a guy with blond hair and green eyes, looked up from the data on the computer and gave a simple command that Yugi could hear.

"We need to move the specimen into the big tank," The blond said. "And no more sedatives, Mr. Kaiba wants to record normal body functions without interference."

The workers nodded and went back to their work, the crane now attached and ready for movement. A worker with brown hair and blue eyes was at the crane's controls and was waiting for the signal.

'_I wonder what is in that container. I didn't get to see it earlier.' Yugi_ thought, and his curiosity got the better of him as he shifted slightly, gaining a better viewpoint.

The crane squeaked as it lifted its heavy load and moved it to hover over the tank, which was only eight feet high. Two workers stood on the catwalks that hung only a few feet from the surface of the water. _(A/N: the catwalks could be raised or lowered by a manual and an electric pulley system.)_

The box was slowly lowered halfway into the water and a worker opened up the holes that were at the bottom, before exiting the catwalks by means of a latter off to the side.

_'The holes are probably there to help the fish adjust to the tanks water's temperature.'_ In all his years here, Yugi had learned about how a few things worked; like how to avoid security cameras, how to hack computers (he wasn't very good at it, but it was still possible), what certain scientific words meant, how to work certain machines, and how to sabotage them. He had learned all this by just watching.

After about five minutes, the box was lowered all the way into the tank. One of the sides of the box had been removed so that the fish could swim out. Yugi waited patiently for the mystery creature to drift into view.

Only to see a few grains of sand fall out of the opening.

"Why isn't it coming out?" The lone voice of the new workers asked, voicing Yugi's own thoughts.

The blond haired worker, the one in charge, gave an exasperated sigh as he answered his question.

"The thing is still knocked out. The sedatives should wear off in about an hour, so it will be awake tomorrow when Mr. Kaiba gets here."

The workers left soon after; the computers were turned off and the exit door was locked.

Yugi waited silence for about ten minutes, making sure that no one was coming back yet. He stared at eth ceiling, watching the shadows dance in the light of a dieing bulb.

'_Okay, the time frame is up.'_ Yugi sighed thankfully, his eyes drew away from the spot on the ceiling and he relaxed.

Glancing around, Yugi spotted a medium sized blue lunch box/cooler sitting right by the entrance of his alcove. He recalled seeing Seto and Mokuba getting food out of it.

At the prospect of food, Yugi crawled forward and pulled the cooler further into his alcove. He could feel his stomach voice its opinion and he desperately hoped that there was some food in that cooler.

The cooler wasn't locked, the other people figured out that if they didn't lock up their lunch boxes then they would return to find some of their food missing, and Yugi wasted no time in opening it.

Yugi felt like singing the 'Hallelujah Chorus' at the sight that met his eyes. The cooler was halfway full with packaged snacks and bagged sandwiches. There was even an unopened bottle of water.

It took all the restraint that Yugi had to not dive right in and stuff all that food right down his throat. He took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before letting it flow back through his lips and repeating the action.

'_Calm down, Yugi,'_ He told himself. _'Who knows how much longer you could go without getting any more food. I need to make this last.'_

Yugi stared at the cooler's contents, debating on which things would go bad sooner, and which ones could be saved for later.

He spotted a bag of grapes and decided to eat those first. After he took out the desired item, Yugi re-zipped the cooler closed and moved it to a small corner in the back of thee alcove, where it would be completely hidden from view.

Once that was done, Yugi took the bag of grapes and sat down on a nearby crate in one of the more spacious parts of the alcove. He opened the bag and pulled out a single grape.

Yugi plopped the grape into his mouth, savoring the long forgotten flavor of fresh fruit. All too soon, the grape disappeared down his thin throat and his stomach begged for more. Eagerly, Yugi repeated the process, taking away the edge of his hunger.

**Bang**

Yugi froze mid-bite, his breath catching in his throat. He had just barely kept himself from jumping ten feet in the air and his heart was beating a mile a second.

**Bang. Clank**

His eyes darted quickly around the room, searching for the source of the noise. It had a muffled quality, like its sound waves had to travel through water first.

A strange sound followed another bang, like a cross between a dolphin's call and a whale's song. Strangely enough, it sounded like it was frustrated.

Yugi directed his line of sight to the container in the tank. It would vibrate in time with the banging and the noise seemed to be coming from that direction.

The bag of grapes lay forgotten on the crate as Yugi slowly got up from his seat. His curiosity had gotten the better of him and he wanted to know what was making that noise.

He stopped approaching when he was about four feet away from the glass wall, as close as his phobia would allow him.

Yugi starred intently at the container, watching as bits of sand fell out and mixed with the sand at the bottom of the tank

'_I think it's waking up.'_

Suddenly, a mass of black, red, and blond hair emerged form the hole in the box, swaying in time with the water's movements. A fine chiseled face came out from hiding, the eyes closed and its mouth parted slightly, and was soon followed by tan shoulders.

'_I-It's a person!!'_ Yugi was shocked to say the least. His over-imaginative mind was working over-time as he tried to figure out why there was a person in the box instead of a fish. He unconsciously moved forward, his worry for the teen in the box temporarily over-riding his fear of the water said teen was in.

'_I've got to help him!'_

The teen was slowly gliding out of the box, his upper body making up and down motions like how a dolphin would. His upper chest was bare, showing off the perfect Caribbean tan anyone would have died for.

Yugi was just about to run up to the catwalks to see if he could get the teen out of the water, no matter how afraid he was, when a sudden flash of bold colors stopped him in his tracks. His eyes wandered to where he saw the flash of colors come from and they widened in disbelief at what he saw.

The perfectly tan torso faded smoothly into the bright crimson scales of a fish's tail.

Yugi's jaw dropped all the way to the floor, his eyes were locked onto the glittering scales of what shouldn't exist. Two trailing fins, one on each side of the teen's hips, started out the same color as the tail before fading sharply into a royal purple with black tipping the very edge. The tail was colored very similar with the base color of a velvet crimson fading into a royal purple where the shinbone would be on a human, and the tips of the tail fin were outlined in a midnight black.

The colors made the teen look even more like he had just jumped straight out of a fantasy book. Yugi found himself blinking rapidly as if to try and dispel the illusion that this had to be.

'_T-there is no way that that is real! It has to be a fake!'_ Yugi's frantic thoughts were bouncing against each other repeatedly, confusing him even more than before.

Yugi's eyes darted from the tail to the teen's face and back again, trying to make sense of what was floating right in front of him. His gaze seemed to be stuck on the crimson scales that even with some kind a thin, grayish film coating them they were still clear enough to catch what little light there was and make them glisten.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, the telltale sign of someone watching him. Yugi slowly looked up, his gaze going from the glittering red scales, to the tan torso, and to the teen's angular face.

Crimson eyes were starring straight at Yugi; shock was the first emotion found in them but the shock soon turned into a cold glare.

Yugi flinched, not used to such a venomous look; it made him want to tear his eyes away form the sight and hide in the smallest corner he could find.

A strange presence brushed across his mind, it felt like it was searching, judging, and rather angry. Yugi was unconsciously shrinking in on himself, unable to move freely while captured in that crimson gaze.

Suddenly the biting edge of the gaze softened, and the strangest feeling of being recognized flowed across his mind.

The crimson eyes blinked, releasing Yugi from their spell. Yugi gasped, drawing in the much-needed air that had become scarce in his lungs. He shakily sat on the floor; his eyes were wide in disbelief at what he was looking at. A creature of myth floated before him, looking curiously, yet warily, at its surroundings.

The presence from before brushed against his mind again. Yugi could literally feel it pull him out of his shocked state.

He looked up and saw the merman staring straight at him with curious eyes, and he was only a few feet from the glass of the tank.

Yugi jerked backwards, startled at how close the merman was, and grunted in pain as his back and head came in contact with the hard concrete floor. He hissed through his teeth at the sudden sting and his hand unconsciously rubbed at the back of his head, wincing when he found a golf ball sized bump.

He felt worry and slight amusement flint across his mind, the emotions not his own. Glancing back at the merman, Yugi could see its facial expression mirroring the foreign emotions in his head.

It didn't take a genius to make the connection; and even though Yugi wasn't exactly the smartest person on the planet, he didn't need a multitude of scientific tests to know that the emotions belonged to the red-scaled merman.

'_Oh joy, an empathic merman. Next thing I know I'll be seeing fairies by my bedside and flying pigs playing crocket on Saturn's Rings.'_

Apparently, his sarcastic humor did not go unnoticed by the merman and another ripple of amusement soon followed.

Yugi slowly for up from the floor, the bump on his head forgotten, and he walked cautiously to the left. He wanted to find a quiet place away from prying eyes where he could sort out the jumbled mess that made up his thought process, and the merman in front of him wasn't helping at all.

The merman's crimson eyes followed his movement, but otherwise he stood still. The presence in his head turned into slight confusion and a silent question passed through.

Yugi blinked and shook his head, trying to get rid of the foreign presence; he was trying to sort out his own head and it was rather hard with an extra addition. It suddenly seemed amused again and the merman swam closer towards him.

As soon as the merman got relatively close, Yugi hurried off in the other direction. He wanted to be away from the reality bender for a while and an age-old fear of wet things resurfaced in his mind-set.

The merman quirked a dignified eyebrow and he followed Yugi along the glass, picking up speed with a flick of his tail fin and swimming slightly ahead of him.

Yugi squeaked when he saw the merman gracefully speed ahead of him. He turned on his heel and speed in the other direction, carefully avoiding the crate in the middle of the path space; Yugi hated to feel cornered and he was too afraid of that merman to get too close, even if they were separated by glass.

This went on for a few minutes and that feeling of amusement faded into annoyance. The merman's face was sporting a faint scowl as he continued to follow Yugi and its side-fins were starting to twitch in frustration.

The presence in his mind suddenly started to swirl, dipping further into Yugi's mind where it wrapped around something and forced it to a halt.

Yugi cried out as his legs suddenly froze up, causing him to fall to the hard ground. His hands caught him, preventing another painful reunion between his back and the concrete, and his eyes widened in disbelief and slight fear.

He tried to move his legs, but to no avail; they were locked in place and he wasn't the one holding the key.

A silent question flowed across his mind as the presence held him in place. He looked at the merman, who was floating only a few feet from him seeing as how he had fallen in the direction of the tank. His eyes were narrowed and Yugi shrank in on himself, drawing his uncontrolled knees to his chest.

Flashed of painful memories crept upon him, stirred awake by the feeling of entrapment the freeing of his legs caused; visions of him being stalked by the orphanage's bullies, of getting caught in a corner with no possible way out, and the lingering echoes of his voice pleading for them to stop as they hurt him.

'_S-stop...'_

Then suddenly, the hold on his mind and legs disappeared. The presence that hung around the edge of his mind held an emotion that could only be interpreted as regretful.

Yugi slowly released the death grip on his legs when he realized that he could move them again. His gaze wandered up to where the merman was, only to find him not there.

He sat straight up and his amethyst eyes searched the seemingly empty tank for the merman that was just there a second ago. He finally spotted him floating near the artificial cave that was sitting off in a corner of the tank.

The merman was feeling the texture of the fake stone, a look of intrigue and distain was on his face and if Yugi concentrated, he could feel the emotions in his mind.

He must of felt Yugi's gaze because he had looked up and made eye contact with Yugi. The presence in his mind rose up again and it portrayed an apology and a silent acceptance of the distance that Yugi wanted.

Yugi tried to send reassurance that he was forgiven, and found this more difficult to do than he thought. But the merman seemed to understand what Yugi was trying to do and a thankful smile, not a smirk or a scowl, ghosted across his face.

The merman then swam over into the entrance of the cave, disappearing into the privacy of its shadows.

Yugi stared at the opening for a few minutes longer, still not quite believing that he had just met a merman, before returning to the place in the alcove where he slept. He curled up on the thin jacket he used as a mattress and covered his body with the tattered sheet, barely noticing that the temperature wasn't as biting cold as before.

So, he fell asleep, curled up in a secret research room with a merman's emotions wrapped around him to keep him warm; and the last thing to pass through his mind was a single sentence.

'_What a strange day.'

* * *

_

**to be continued...**

**

* * *

**

Well, there it is; I hope you enjoyed it.

**Special note:** I am wanting a beta reader type person. I'm wanting someone who would proof-read my chapters ahead of time and tell me if a certain part is repeating or if I need to switch a part of the story. The beta would be something like a consultant to which I could ask if a cartain idea should be used and they should be able to give constructive critism. Please contact me if your are interested in helping me with this.

On another note, I have fanart for you! Well, it's not really mine, but I had a friend of my draw a picture or two of what they think Yami would looke like a merman. I have the link on my profile, it should be highlighted in blue or purple. Thanx for the art Shamise!

_Plz Review! And dont be afraid to critize! As long as it isnt a flame I'm not going to bite your head off. I like contructive critism, It motivates me. (I know, I'm strange like that) So if something doesnt add up in the plot line then tell me so that I can fix it._

_See ya in the next chapter._


	10. Chapter 10

_Hello dear readers. Sry about the long wait, I had run into some hurdles._

_Before I give you the chapter, I want to say thank you to Karistarz for Betaing this chapter. Your input helped me alot._

_I know that this chapter is short comparing it to the last one, but this is basically building on Yami and Yugi's character. Next chapter might have some action in it, but I'm still writting._

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(Yami's POV)

* * *

"Ow…My head hurts…" 

Scattered thoughts jumbled around Yami's head, doing their best to imitate a flock of silverfish when confused.

'_Man, what hit me?'_

He moved to sit up, so that he could try to clear his head-

_**Bang **_

-only to hit said head on something that was only a few feet away from his face.

With a gasp of pain he jerked away form whatever he had just hit his head on. It was too dark to see anything properly so he couldn't tell its shape. Maybe if he got far enough away he could have some light filter in-

_**Bang **_

His back collided against something in the same way his head did. His tail jerked in an attempt to right himself.

"What under the sea?!" (A/N: That would be like us saying 'what on earth.') He cried out, voicing his frustration as his tail also came in contact with something hard.

As he tried to get away from whatever he was swimming into, he kept colliding with something that was as hard as stone but as smooth as the crystal spears the guards used. He could feel a few grains of sand beneath him and that calmed him slightly.

'_I need to calm down. I won't be able to do anything if I go and start panicking.' __  
_

Yami took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his frazzled nerves. He let the water filter through his hidden gills as he slowly got used to the strange water.

'_This water tastes kind of funny…kind of overly clean and false…' __  
_

'_Wait a minute.'_ Yami froze. _'I remember why this water tastes different.'_

Recognition and anger flooded his senses; memories about his capture accompanied the violent emotions. Now that he remembered the situation he had a better idea as to what he kept colliding with.  
He carefully raised a hand, extending it until it made contact with the smooth surface of his confinement. Instead of jerking back like he had been, he ran his webbed fingers along the strange material.

'_This must be the same cage they had me in earlier.'_ He used his hands to determine just how large the container was. If he laid his back against the bottom he could raise his hands about two feet before it had to stop and his base fin was folded in since the sides of the cage weren't wide enough.

There was also a light source coming from somewhere behind his head. It reflected against the walls of his cage and struck his scales, yet it was only a pale light, barely bright enough to be considered natural.

'_An escape route.'_ Yami thought triumphantly. He drifted towards it, using his side fins since there wasn't enough room to use his base fin.

He kept his eyes closed when they encountered a bright light whilst passing the opening. He didn't stop moving until his tail cleared the opening and he could spread his base fin again.

He took a deep breath before he cracked open an eyelid. He waited for them to adjust to the light while he let his senses wander through the strange water, stopping at the barrier that the water was held in.

The search stopped as he felt something watching him, or more specifically his tail.

His crimson eyes snapped open and he looked towards where he felt the gaze come from.

It was a human.

His sudden shock at seeing a human so close soon hardened into a cold glare. The human must of felt his glare, for it looked up with slightly frightened eyes.  
_  
__'Evil humans. Destroyer of oceans. Polluter of waters -'_ Yami ranted mentally, listing off all the titles the humans had received from his people.

The human flinched against Yami's venomous glare, shrinking in on himself. Amethyst eyes, which Yami was sure, were an unusual colour for a human, locked on Yami's crimson as he stretched out a mental tendril for the purpose of finding out where he was and who the human was.

The tendril brushed across the human's mind, looking for the spot with the least resistance. Yami searched the surface memories as he looked for a weak spot.

_'Wait a minute.'_ Yami recognized this mind; it was the exact same one he had encountered and attacked when he first arrived. This was the mind that had used him as a crutch to rebuild itself after he had nearly destroyed it.

He softened his gaze, letting the searching tendril dissipate as he blinked. Now that he knew that this human couldn't hurt him, he let his more curious side take over.

The human seemed to be in a state of shock. Yami watched as he (for the human was definitely male) sunk to the floor and his eyes stayed wide and unfocused.

Yami swam forward, stopping at the clear barrier that separated the water from the air. He mentally reached towards the human mind using a different type of tendril, carefully unwinding the human's jumbled thoughts and successfully pulling him out of his shocked state.

The human looked up, his amethyst eyes now clear and his gaze settling on Yami.

Yami watched as the boy suddenly jerked backwards and landed on the floor with a silent thud. He was slightly worried that the human had hurt himself, but mainly, he found it amusing.

He felt something in the human's mind click; he must have felt Yami's amusement. Yami listened closer, hoping to hear what the boy was thinking.  
_  
__'/Oh joy, an empathic merman. Next thing I know I'll be seeing fairies by my bedside and winged pigs playing croquet on Saturn's Rings./'_

For some reason, Yami found this rather funny. He didn't know if fairies were still around, but what under the sea was a pig?  
_  
__'Such a strange human this one is.' _Yami watched as said human slowly got up from his position on the floor. 'Of course, I've never really been around one long enough to tell…'

The human was cautiously walking off to Yami's left, all the while acting like he was trying to get away from a hostile creature. Yami conveyed his confusion to the boy's actions since he couldn't speak mind to mind yet (the boy's mind wasn't strong enough for that so he relayed his emotions instead).

Yami became amused again as the human shook his head quickly.

'_You can't get me out of your head like that._' He glided along the glass, heading towards where the boy was.

The human, noticing Yami's advance, quickly turned on his heels and sped in the other direction. _'What is he doing?'_ Yami thought, quirking an eyebrow as he followed the boy along the see-through barrier. With a flick of his base fin, he passed the human and waited for him to approach.

Yami began to find it even more amusing as the boy darted in the other direction, carrying himself on those strange legs that humans sported. _'Man, this human is more skittish than a sea herring in a school of salmon.'_ (A/N: I don't know if salmon eat guppies so bear with me.)

Soon enough, the amusement began to fade and was soon replaced with annoyance. His side fins twitched in irritation as he kept following the human that was still darting back and forth on the other side of the barrier. The human didn't seem to be tiring, and Yami was still slightly cranky about being captured by humans.

_  
__'Oh, for the love of Poseidon'_ Yami finally got fed up with the constant movement. He reached into the human's mind, surrounding the cerebrum and forcing the legs to stop moving.

The human crashed to the ground and started to panic. Yami sent a questioning emotion, wanting to know why the boy was darting about earlier. The boy glanced towards him before curling up into a tight ball.

Yami could feel the swirl of negative emotions rushing underneath the surface of the human's mind. He could see the uncontrolled fear and could almost hear the painful memories running around.

_  
__'/S-stop…/' _

Yami released his hold, ashamed and upset at what he had just done. He retreated form the boy's mind and swam over to the other side of the water bay.

There was a cave over there and the material didn't feel like any rock or coral he had felt before.

_'Why did I do that?'_ Yami berated himself as he ran his webbed fingers over the strange stone. _'His mind is fragile enough as it is, I don't need to make it worse.'_ He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a hesitant and unsure nudge against his mind. He looked up and saw the human staring at him; the human must have sensed his regret. The nudge against his mind must have been the human's attempt at relaying an emotion, much like what Yami had been doing before. Yami conveyed his gratefulness towards the action before swimming into the opening of the cave and disappearing into its shadows.

After he found a spot where he could see the human and not be seen by anyone, Yami noticed that the human was shivering. Through the link that had been formed he wrapped the boy in mental warmth and smiled as the human sighed contentedly and fell asleep.

Once he was sure that the human was asleep, Yami allowed himself to go into a meditative state. He let probes expand outwards and search the confines of the room he was in. He discovered that controlled electricity ran, like that of an electric eel, through those strange grey boxes and the thing that had contained him earlier was still suspended in the water.

_'Man, this is so different from home.'_ He sighed as a small wave of homesickness washed over him. He glanced over at the sleeping boy, and this time, he couldn't shake the sense of familiarity. He frowned at the feeling before thinking, _'I know I've seen this human somewhere before.'_

A few hours had passed since Yami first woke up in that strange container and had grown bored of observing his surroundings, his thoughts turning towards the little human instead. By skimming his surface thoughts (which ran deeper since the boy was asleep), he had learned several interesting things. He already knew that the human was male and had guessed that he was still an adolescent. Yami learned that the teen was fifteen years old and that he was rather short for a human. The teen was an orphan like himself, though he couldn't tell what happened to the human's parents. Yami's parents had died from a disease when he was just three years old, so he didn't know them enough to be too depressed at not having them there. His grandfather was all the family he needed even though he did get lonely at times.

'_Maybe he seems familiar because we look alike?' _It was true; the resemblance between them was uncanny. They both had the unusual tri-colored spiky hair (although the human didn't have the blond lightening blots that struck up through Yami's hair) and were short for their respective species.

But that was where the similarities between them ended. From what Yami saw, the human had light amethyst eyes while his eyes were a deep crimson colour. Their personalities differed greatly; the human was rather quiet, jumpy and shy while he was confident and, though he would never admit it, almost cocky.

_'No, it's not just that. His aura feels familiar too.'_ Yami sighed, swirling the stale-tasting water with his fins.

'_Oh well, it'll come to me eventually.' _He propelled himself out of the fake cave and studied the physical properties of his containment once more. The barrier that held the water above land didn't hold any trace of magic so it had to be human-made. It reminded him a lot of the sea glass that decorated a few of the windows in the palace.

With a pang, Yami wondered how his friends were taking his abrupt disappearance. He had left without saying anything that morning and had made sure that none of the guards had seen him leave. His grandfather would definitely be throwing a fit when he realized that Yami was nowhere to be found. He also may be thinking that Yami was just going through the 'rebellious teen' stage and was purposely staying away from home. Joey and Honda were most likely looking for him and driving everyone nuts while doing so. Mahado would be swimming up a current (running up a wall) and Mana would be 'helping' Joey. It would've been hysterical to watch if he was there instead of being a prisoner of the humans.

His look-a-like must have felt Yami's despondent thoughts for he felt the teen's mind shift against his own in a distressed way. With a quick glance at the sleeping human over in the corner, he saw him moving slightly in his sleep.

'_He must be really sensitive_ to emotion,' Yami thought as he soothed the human back to sleep. _'Either that or our mental bond runs a little bit deeper than I first thought.'_

The bond itself was strange thing. It wasn't intentionally made and seemed to revolve around emotion only, though Yami was sure that what was empathic could very easily become telepathic if it was used enough. Yami suspected that the bond was formed after his attack on the crumbling defences and during the rehabilitation. It had grown steadily afterwards.

_'Do I even want to speak with a human?'_ Yami was still unsure if he should keep being so nice towards a human. He was raised to hate them and no one of that species had ever helped anyone he knew, so it was a little hard to break lifelong prejudices.

'_But this human isn't so bad. I mean, he hasn't tried to hurt me yet. Heck, I was the one to attack him and he was willing to listen to my apology. He even let me comfort him! Twice!' __  
_

Yami shook his head in amused disbelief. This human was definitely a strange one no matter how Yami looked at it. Even a merperson would hold a grudge if he did anything to them like he did to the human.

'_I don't think that I'll ever be able to understand humans.'_

He yawned, his hand automatically coming up to cover his mouth out of habit. His eyelids were beginning to droop as fatigue settled in. Yami suspected that the sedatives weren't completely out of his system yet, and in addition to this, the human's sleepy emotions were leaking over the link.

'_Maybe I should take a nap. At least then I'll be ready to resist whatever the humans do to me.' __  
_

With that thought, Yami followed the human into peaceful slumber.

* * *

**To be continued...**

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_Well, ther ya have it. Hope you enjoyed it!_

_Just to let you know. I had a friend of mine on MediaMiner post this story for me. It's under the same title, so you can read it over there too if u want._

_TTLY._ **_REVIEW PLZ!!!!!_**


	11. Chapter 11

_**Sry for teh long wait!!! I hope this chapter makes up for that!!**_

_**Thanx to my beta for this wonderful chapter!!!**_

**_Crystal Waters_**

**_Chapter 11_**

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The glare of florescent lights greeted Yugi as he awoke the next day. He shifted underneath the torn blanket and a pale arm covered his eyes in an attempt to escape the bright lights. His feet and lower calves were exposed to the cold concrete but the temperature had no affect on him

He opened his eyes slowly, allowing them to adjust to the light before quietly stretching out his limbs. A silent yawn passed his lips as his mind drew itself out of sleep's embrace.

His eyes focused after blinking several times and the familiar alcove came into view. Dimly, he wondered why the lights were on so early and why they were even on in the first place. Normally, it stayed dark in this room all day unless someone came in here…

Yugi jolted awake and the gears turned frantically in his head. Since the lights were on then someone was in here besides him. He desperately hoped that no one had heard or seen him, because that would bring about painful consequences.

He carefully looked through the tank's clear water and could just barely make out the two figures that sat over by the computers. One of them was extremely tall and the other was short. The taller one was obviously looking over some data and the shorter one was tinkering with some mechanical device. They both seemed familiar to Yugi but he just couldn't place where he had seen them before.

**Thud**

Yugi's heart stopped when he realized that he had knocked over the cooler from yesterday. The shorter person was quickly making his way over to the half-hidden entrance to his alcove. Yugi knew that he couldn't run no matter how much he wanted to, so he tried to make himself as small as he could and hoped that he would be overlooked.

A mass of black hair shoved through the opening and childish gray eyes searched the alcove before resting on Yugi. Recognition lit up in the gray eyes and a cry of 'Yugi!' escaped through the other boy's mouth.

Yugi, startled at the fact that someone knew his name, jumped backwards and landed rather harshly on his backside for the second time that day. The sudden alarm that ran through his mind must have woken the merman, who was still curled around his mind, for he was emitting concerned emotions with a questioning edge behind them.

The black haired kid suddenly looked sheepish as he apologized for scaring him. _'Why is he apologizing?'_ Yugi thought.

"Sorry for scaring you, Yugi. I didn't know that you would react like that." He partially misinterpreted Yugi's confused look as he continued saying, "I'm Mokuba, remember? I was here yesterday."

_'Mokuba?…Oh yeah, now I remember. He was the one who gave me the sandwich…and thought that I looked like an eight year old.'_

Yugi slowly calmed down after he recognized the person. A small, hesitant smile grew on his lips as he made his way out of his alcove, easily maneuvering his small body amongst the metal beams and other junk that was forced back there.

"Why?" Yugi's quiet voice brought Mokuba out of his musings.

"Why what?"

"Why are you helping me?" Yugi's face was emotionless as he said this. He didn't know if Mokuba was setting him up for a fall or if he was genuinely concerned about him.

Mokuba seemed confused at the question, stating that since Yugi needed help and he had plenty to give, then there was no reason for him not to. Yugi was still unsure about Mokuba's motives, even if the vibes he was getting felt safe. He mentally sighed, _'It might not last, so I'll enjoy it while I can.'_

The subject was dropped after that and the two brothers began to get ready for their jobs, setting up a strange box-like table that was filled with water and had straps connected to the bottom. Judging from the whirring sound it produced, Yugi guessed that it was warming up the machines

Yugi watched form a chair that was near his alcove, still not feeling safe enough to venture further. He memorized which machines were being used and how they were operated; he did this out of habit as he had nothing better to do and he might be able to get a job when he became old enough to do so.

The merman was rather confused as he watched the two humans from yesterday bustle about the room. He had been silent while Mokuba had talked to Yugi - protective emotions had surfaced when Yugi had been startled, but he was calming down now that he no longer appeared to be in danger. He had asked Yugi what the other humans were doing; at least that's what Yugi thought the prodding emotions were, but it seemed that Yugi didn't quite know how to convert his emotions into words yet.

In about fifteen minutes, the two brothers had the equipment ready; Mokuba was positioned at the crane's controllers and Seto had multiple sensors in the water, ready to record any changes in it.

It didn't take much longer for him to realize what they were going to do. The claw attached to the crane was going to be used to get the merman out of the water, and the electrodes probably had an extra function.

Yugi tried to send a warning to the merman, but he still didn't really know how to project emotions. He felt the merman send back a question to inquire about what Yugi was trying to 'say'. He tried again, overemphasizing an emotion that was close to trepidation and was rewarded when he felt affirmation from the sea creature.

He was brought out of the semi-trance that he had fallen into when the actions of the claw made itself known. Yugi's eyes darted over to the claw, which was currently being directed to hover above the artificial cave.

'_Well, at least they can't get a hold of him if he's in the cave. That claw can't be that maneuverable,'_ Yugi thought.

He watched as the claw dipped into the water, creating ripples and splashes across the surface. Yugi could feel the merman's confusion and anticipation. Anticipation for what, he didn't know.

The merman stilled, his position taut and his crimson eyes trained on the metal object that was approaching him. When the claw got within three feet, he sprang from his position.

It was rather funny, Yugi thought to himself, to watch the merman play a version of tag with a giant metal claw. The sea creature would dart forward and tap the claw, then swim away before it had time to react. Not to mention that the Kaibas' expressions were hysterical in their own right.

Seto's scowl was definitely funnier than Mokuba's frustrated frown. Yugi soon found himself snickering quietly - the first laugh he had in a long time.

"Mokuba," Seto suddenly called out. "Get ready, I'm going to stun it." Mokuba answered with an affirmative nod and did as he was told.

'_Stun? What would he mean by-'_ That train of thought froze in realization. '_Oh no.'_

Yugi tried to convey a warning to the merman, but it was received too late for anything to be done. The resulting emotions that spilled over from the merman were so jumbled and confused that Yugi gave out an involuntary screech, almost copying the inhuman sound that came from the merman's lips.

In no time at all, the merman was tied down to a table partially submerged in water. The effects of the stun were wearing off quickly as the merman began to fight back. Powerful hits with the tri-colored tail met Seto every time he got too close.

Yugi would have laughed at Seto's expression if he weren't still jumbled in the aftermath of the merman's emotions. The creature seemed determined, scared, and minimally amused, probably from the taller human's reactions.

Eventually, Yugi calmed down enough to extract himself from his alcove. He didn't want to get too close to the working brothers, so instead, he hovered in a perimeter of about seven feet.

The elder Kaiba suddenly got up and left the room, probably to find something for his growing headache, and Mokuba followed soon after, leaving Yugi alone with the tied-down merman.

The merman looked so much bigger up close; the tail was definitely longer than a human's leg by a few inches. If Yugi were to lie down next to him, the merman would certainly be taller.

He approached with caution, partially for his own safety and partially for the merman. He noticed that the scales were a lot more defined than he first thought and they were covered in a clear type of film. The colors blended perfectly together, yet they could easily be told apart. They sparkled in the dim light and Yugi found himself subconsciously reaching out for them.

His hands were only a few centimeters away when the tail suddenly twitched. The merman's emotions made themselves known and Yugi felt his question and wariness.

Yugi ashamedly snatched his hand back to his chest. He knew that he shouldn't have done that; it was a big invasion of space. He shuffled his feet, finding the floor really interesting as he started to inch backwards. He could feel the merman's crimson eyes staring at him and he blushed in embarrassment.

The merman's emotions came quietly over the 'link' - questioning was the first to be recognized, then understanding and amusement came after the wariness disappeared completely. Yugi felt a mental prodding and he lifted his eyes slowly, seeing as how the merman was trying to get his attention. His amethyst eyes stopped at the merman's shoulder and wouldn't go any further…at least, until the prodding became more persistent.

When the crimson eyes connected with Yugi's, his guilt immediately turned into embarrassment. The merman had ill-concealed amusement in his eyes, mirroring the laughter he could hear in his head.

Yugi blinked a few times, uncertain of the message behind the amusement. Was it a cold, jeering enjoyment of treating the weak cruelly like so many others he had heard before? However, the merman quirked a corner of his mouth that went with his eyes, and Yugi somehow felt a warmer feeling that came with his laugh. Gathering what courage he had left, Yugi allowed his feet to shuffle forwards once more.

The merman didn't seem to mind as Yugi reached out his hand again. He was a lot more self-conscious than before, but the colors were hypnotic. The scales were warm and smooth underneath his hands and the muscles rolled behind the relaxed skin. The side fins were leathery and smooth, just like the larger fin, with just a trace of translucent scale here and there.

A sudden tremor went through the tail when he ran his fingers across the side of the merman's tail, near one of his side fins. For a second, Yugi thought he had done something wrong, yet the expression on the sea teen's face totally contradicted that statement and made way for another.

The merman was ticklish.

Yugi couldn't help but laugh at the revelation; it was just so unexpected that a creature of myth would be prey to one of the most human traits.

The tremors faded when Yugi removed his hand from the spot after figuring out that the merman was ticklish on his sides too, and the sea teen's laughter faded soon after, even though the smile remained.

The happy moment was broken all too soon by the sound of the lab's door opening. The merman's posture, which had been relaxed, instantly stiffened and Yugi cringed instinctively. His eyes shot to the source of the noise and gave a small sigh of relief, very small mind you, when he saw that it was only the elder Kaiba.

Confusion slipped across the usually emotionless face of Seto, but it was gone just as quickly as it appeared. Kaiba resumed his confident walk towards them, sighing when he saw Yugi cringe away.

Yugi continued to back away as Seto advanced, he didn't think that the elder Kaiba would hurt him but he still wasn't sure. He ignored the inquisition he felt over the link as he tried to control his fear and uncertainty, so the merman immediately began to send reassuring waves in an attempt to calm the smaller human. It worked, though Yugi was still on edge.

Kaiba continued to watch Yugi out of the corner of his eye, noticing how the teen began to relax even though he didn't stop backing up until he stopped advancing. He also didn't miss how Yugi had kept glancing around the room like he was looking for an escape or a certain black-haired kid.

"Mokuba's not here."

Yugi jumped, not really expecting to be spoken to directly. _'Mokuba's not here? Then, where did he go?'_

Kaiba must have seen his confusion for he continued by saying that Mokuba had an appointment to go to and homework to finish.

_(Seto's POV)_

The silence continued as Seto finished up on a few experiments, which included blood tests, various nerve tests, and vocal capability. It confused him greatly, though he'd never admit to being confused at all, when he saw Yugi flinch during the tests. The small teen wasn't even watching.

He put the merman back into the tank after a while, fed up with being a punching bag, and filed away the new data so that he could review it when he went home. There was only one more thing he had to test before he wanted to leave.

That Puzzle.

Seto knew it was a puzzle from the geometric design, and by how Yugi fit those two pieces together.

Speaking of which, the short teen was sitting off to the side and staring at the merman in the tank with a thoughtful expression on his face while the merman was doing a very good impression of a human ranting. Every now and then, Yugi's facial expression would change, like he could actually hear the merman rant.

Now that he thought about it, it was rather strange how they reacted to each other, almost like they were connected or something. He knew that the merman and the puzzle were connected somehow, and since Yugi was the only one able to touch the item without the threat of being electrocuted, then…maybe they were connected too.

But that was impossible. Humans have no kind of mental projection capability, so there would be no way that was possible. But then again, a few weeks prior to this he would have scoffed at the mere idea of merpeople.

Seto glanced over to the golden puzzle, a plan forming in his mind. He approached it swiftly and transferred the container to a table closer to the tank.

"Yugi." He called the shorter teen over to him. Yugi jerked out of whatever was occupying his mind and made his way slowly over to where Kaiba was. His posture was timid and taut, but made no attempt to run away.

"I have a favor to ask of you"

* * *

_**(Time lapse)**_

* * *

Yugi sat in his alcove, back propped up against the wall and his legs arranged in an Indian style beneath him. He was in one of the less-used part of the alcove where he could see the tank clearly without anything obstructing his view.

The merman clearly took advantage of this as well and was currently lying in the beige sand close to the glass. Sharp crimson eyes watched attentively as Yugi worked on the project Kaiba gave him, giving wordless tips as to which piece went where. The emotions that came over the link were calm and reassuring, different from the confused and shocked emotions from earlier.

Yugi continued to work diligently on the task he was given, thankful for the merman's helpful suggestions and such. His wide amethyst eyes were focused on the task at hand, searching for the correct pieces while trying to build a specific shape.

**Click**

Shining golden pieces lay in front of him, each of different design and volume. In his right hand he held a cluster of these golden pieces, all of those connected snugly, and he held a separate piece in his left hand, trying to figure out its designated place.

**Click**

This was the project he had been given, to solve this puzzle. The elder Kaiba had stated that he couldn't solve it and wanted to see if Yugi could. Yugi didn't see why he could solve it when Kaiba couldn't but that didn't matter once he touched the glittering pieces. He had taken it from Kaiba in what could only be called a trance and left immediately to this spot in his alcove, not noticing when Kaiba left nor when the merman settled next to the glass. Of course, it was said merman that broke the trance and he had been working on the Puzzle since.

**Click**

With every piece that slid into place, he could feel the link get stronger. The emotion became clearer and he found it easier to send responses; every now and then he could swear that words came with it, but those were clouded and barely heard so he dismissed them altogether.

**Click**

A definite shape was growing under his hands; it seemed to be a square-based pyramid that was probably upside-down and used as a necklace. The lines where the pieces would meet seemed to vanish almost immediately when connected in the right place, though there were raised designs on the outside corners.

**Click**

He was almost done now; only a few pieces were left on the floor and the resulting shape was no longer a guess. It was definitely an upside-down pyramid, and the designs looked Egyptian so Yugi assumed that the design was based on a real pyramid.

**Click**

Two pieces were left - the one that gave away that it would be a necklace and the one that was decorated with a strange eye. The loop-piece fitted easily into its spot and the merman's anticipation was an exact mirror of his own. He couldn't help but feel like he was going to do something that no other human had ever done.

**Click**

The last piece. The metal was slightly warm in his hand from the heat it had collected. The merman was pressed up against the glass, crimson eyes wide with anticipation and disbelief.

**Click**

The last piece slid into place, the resulting noise echoing in the silent room. Yugi held his breath, for what he didn't know, with the merman doing the same. He felt the link widen a little more, letting through a baritone voice that spoke one short sentence.

_/Put it on./_

Unbidden, his hands raised the weathered rope over his head and settled it around his neck. The completed Puzzle rested lightly over his chest, near where his stomach was, and the small amount of light that came from the tank reflected off the smooth sides. His hands went from the rope to cradling the item lightly. The hairs on the nape of his neck stood on end and he couldn't help but feel that something unimaginable was about to happen.

Several seconds passed and nothing happened; the puzzle still sat there and the merman was still pressed against the glass. Yugi let out a small sigh, the tension leaving his body as he relaxed against the wall. He looked at the merman, and froze when their gazes locked. A golden glimmer shone behind those crimson eyes, determined and unwavering.

Golden light suddenly spilled forth from the Puzzle, wrapping around the startled human in a loose embrace, and the link flew wide open.

A baritone voice flowed over the link, joy and excitement apparent.

_/Hello, little one. My name is Yami./_

The voice seemed amused as Yugi sputtered incoherently. He was hearing voices now, a definite sign of insanity. Maybe his constant solitude was finally getting to him.

_/I can assure you, little one, that you're not crazy./_

'_Then how else are you in my head?' _Yugi snapped back, not paying attention to what he just said.

/_Some merpeople have the ability of telepathy, though I never thought it would work with a human…/ _The voice trailed off, lost in its own thoughts.

'_Wait…merpeople? How would you know that?'_ Yugi responded.

_/Because, I am one. And could you please stop calling me 'the voice'? My name is Yami./ _The voice, Yami, sounded rather amused at being called a voice.

"But that means…" Yugi trailed off, his eyes locking onto the creature in the tank. The merman had a smirk on his face and his tan arms were crossed over his chest.

_/Correct./_

'_But how do I know that you're __not__ just a voice in my head. You could be trying to trick me.' _

_/Now why would I try to trick you? That would help neither of us./_

"_I don't know, I've never been crazy before…'_

_/Is there anything I can do to prove that I'm the merman in the tank?/_

'_Ummm…you could swim __two loops__?…'_

The merman raised an eyebrow at the suggestion before doing so. Two complete circles, much like a backwards summersault.

_/Satisfied_?/ Yami's voice came back, amused. It was now that Yugi realized that the words were indeed coming over the link he had with the merman.

'_But, how come you didn't talk earlier?'_

_/I couldn't. My magic had been offline ever since I was bought here and I only now got some of it back./ _Yami answered another question before the human could askit._ /You solved my Puzzle. It broke when I first got here, so I was unable to reline my personal magic. Not to mention that you're a natural empath, so that helps with this kind of telepathy…./ _Yami started to ramble in his excitement.

'_Empath? Telepathy? But humans don't have any type of mental powers. It's impossible!'…_But then again, merpeople aren't supposed to exist either.

_/But, that's a conversation for another time. Tell me, little one, what is your name?/_

'_My name?' _

_/Yes, your name. I can't very well keep calling you 'the human' all the time, now can I?/_

Yugi blushed slightly; he had been doing the same thing by calling Yami 'the merman'.

"Oh, well my name is Yugi."

Abruptly the Puzzle let out a giant burst of light that faded away afterwards. The link also faded back to what it had been before Yugi had completed the Puzzle, letting emotion through only.

Startled, Yugi blinked a few times to rid himself of the spots that plagued his vision before he focused on Yami. Yami was floating in the tank, an expression of frustration and annoyance mixed with a little triumph.

"Yami?" Yugi was surprised and slightly disappointed when he only felt emotions come through the link; apparently the telepathy was only temporary. Yami, after smiling and nodding at Yugi, swam back toward his cave, ready for some sleep.

Yugi recognized the dismissal and returned to his sleeping spot in the alcove. As he hunkered down for the night he started to take the Puzzle off his neck, thinking that since it wasn't really his he didn't need to wear it. He was stopped by a strong sense of '_no_' coming over the link. Apparently, Yami didn't want him to take the Puzzle off.

He sent back an acknowledgment, dimly realizing that it was much easier to send emotions now, before falling into the clutches of slumber.

Crimson eyes watched as the little human fell asleep, amused at the conversation they had and disappointed that they couldn't talk for longer. The Puzzle worked off the bearer's own magic, so this proved that the human, Yugi, had enough magic to even activate the item, which in itself was quite a feat. Perhaps they would be able to talk longer next time.

The crimson-tailed merman swam back into the cave, ready for some rest and time to plan for his next encounter with that overly tall human. He definitely wasn't going to walk away with just bruises tomorrow. Yami smirked - this could be fun.

* * *

Thanx for reading chapter 11!!! I hope u enjoyed it!!

dont forget to REview!!!


	12. Chapter 12

Sry for the long wait!!!! I hope u can forgive me!!! I've made a referance to IllusionWolf's Hyroi Kelidi, It belongs to them.

Warning: There is some mild swearing in the chapter.

Enjoy.

* * *

The next few days were seemingly normal. The Kaiba brothers would come in and run more tests on the merman, and Seto would wind up with more bruises. Mokuba and Yugi, however, were the only humans that didn't get attacked. Seto wondered about this but thought that it was because the merman didn't see them as a threat.

Yugi wore the puzzle when no one else was around, and after the first day it felt strange to not wear it. He had tried to give it back to Seto but the other human had only gotten zapped and Yugi would be scolded by the merman. In addition to this, the mind link hadn't come back yet but the emotionally link was becoming extremely strong.

On the second day, Yugi had decided to help the merman. He knew that Yami hated the experiments so he used all his acquired knowledge to sabotage the equipment. He stayed away from the computers but everything else was free dibs.

Yugi was still to afraid to go directly to the glass of the tank, his fears of open water still in effect, but he wasn't afraid to go up to the merman when he was out of the tank. He often stood nearby when the experiments were running.

He would get hungry every now and then, but not as much as before Mokuba started bringing an extra lunch. He was extremely grateful to the younger boy for that. Seto was always lurking in the background and that had always made Yugi uneasy.

But other than that, Yugi was actually [optional! starting to enjoy life. He had a friend and he knew people that didn't want to beat him up on first glance.

Unfortunately, good things never last for very long

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" one of the guards yelled. Yugi's hands froze and his eyes went wide in recognition. The guard that had yelled stormed over to where he was crouching and without much delay or warning, kicked Yugi in the stomach. Hard.

The food Yugi had gathered went flying across the room, landing in a haphazard pattern on the cold floor. He collided painfully with the floor, a sickening thud echoing loudly and the air rushing out of his lungs.

"Where's your payment, runt?!" The guard, Ushio, yelled as two of his lackeys laughed at Yugi's pain.

Ushio lunged at Yugi, grabbing a handful of the small human's hair and mercilessly pulling him up from the ground.

'_Ouch!…' _Yugi bit back a yell; he knew that if he showed any pain then Ushio would continue to beat him even longer. But it was extremely difficult and strangled whimpers were forced from his throat; his head really hurt!! It felt like a million needles were simultaneously embedding themselves into his scalp! Instinctively, his hands clawed at the meaty fist, trying to dislodge himself from Ushio's grasp.

"Well?!" Ushio demanded, shaking Yugi while he did so. "Where's my money?!"

Yugi whimpered; why did Ushio do this? The burly man knew that Yugi didn't have any money whatsoever, so why did he still demand it?

"I-I d-d-don't have a-any." Yugi stuttered, his voice coming out as a whisper.

Ushio jerked his hand, pulling deliberately on the spiky hair, and an insane smirk covered his face. He put his face only a few inches from Yugi's, close enough for the smaller to smell the tobacco and alcohol in his breath. Yugi would've gagged at the horrible stench, but he was in too much pain to even breathe.

"I keep you safe from the other guards and this is how you repay me?!" Ushio thundered, his voice increasing in volume with every word. Ushio pulled back his right arm, for he was using his left to hold Yugi in the air, and punched him in the gut, letting Yugi fall to the ground.

Yugi lay there, curled in the fetal position gasping for oxygen. His eyes dulled with pain while his vision was plagued with black spots, his mind began to retreat into its battered shell in an attempt to lessen the pain. He distantly heard Ushio and his lackeys laughing in the background, a coarse awful sound that grated on his ears.

"You're such a wimp." One of the lackeys said with obvious mockery. "Already down when we haven't even started."

Ushio threw another kick at the small human, watching in sadistic pleasure as the boy gasped and whimpered in pain.

"I think the runt needs a lesson about true pain." Ushio sneered and signaled to his lackeys. The two other thugs cracked their knuckles in anticipation as they advanced on the vulnerable boy.

Within seconds they were kicking and punching Yugi, shouting insults the entire time. Yugi tried his best to stay conscious and the small fragile shell that had grown around his soul began to crack once again.

Minutes that seemed like hours passed and the mini-gang ceased beating on the defenseless teen. The two lackeys took their places behind Ushio with satisfied smirks on their faces.

Yugi was in extreme pain. It hurt to move, and it even hurt to breathe!! His body was sporting millions of new bruises and his mouth was bleeding profusely. Pain clouded his mind and the room tilted precariously in a number of directions.

One word was going through his mind right now, much like a broken record.

'_Why?'_

Why was he alone? Why was he in pain all the time? Why did these people beat him up? Why did nobody want him? Why did it hurt so much?

Why was he still alive?

It was surprising that he hadn't committed suicide long ago. He still hadn't died form malnutrition or abuse. No matter how many times he had thought about it, something always made him want to live.

A sharp glint in his field of vision brought him back to his surroundings. He turned his head, trying to ignore the horrible pain the action brought, and looked in the direction it had come from.

And froze.

Ushio was grinning sadistically again and he was slowly advancing towards Yugi. But that wasn't what had caught Yugi's attention; no, it was something more deadly and promised Yugi more pain.

In Ushio's hand was a pocketknife; the blade was stainless and Yugi had a feeling that it wasn't going to stay that way.

'_Oh no, oh no, no no no no.'_

"Let's continue, shall we?"

His screams echoed throughout the entire room.

/_Wake up, little one. Wake up./_

Yugi's pain clouded eyes slowly opened. Colors and shapes blended together and a ferocious pounding filled his head. Painfully, he dragged his mind into semi-consciousness.

Hissing in agony, he sat up on the blood stained floor. His half-clotted broke and he began to bleed again.

He slowly made his way to his alcove, the only safe haven he knew of. He nearly cried out when he fell halfway there. Extreme pain shot through his entire body when he made contact with the unforgiving floor.

He was lucky, he supposed. He had passed out after the fifth or sixth cut. He shuddered, unthinkingly causing more pain to his sensitive nerves. This was one of the worst beatings that he had gotten since Ushio had found him. Yugi tried to avoid him as much as possible but there were still times when Ushio decided to seek him out like tonight.

The Kaibas had left early today, and Yugi had been heading back to his alcove to put the Puzzle back on. He had been planning on trying to talk to Yami again or just relax at least, until Ushio had shown up. The thug had seen the Puzzle in Yugi's hand and had attempted to take it, but was met with an electrical shock. He had then gotten angry, grabbed it by the rope and threw it into the tank, watching with satisfaction as it sank to the bottom.

Yugi made it to his alcove, short of breath and full of pain. He pulled himself up to the small sink and attempted to turn the water on. Yugi knew that he needed to get his wounds cleaned before they got infected.

The cold water made his already throbbing wounds sting ferociously. He sobbed through clenched teeth, trying not to make a sound and barely succeeding.

Crystal clear water soon turned into and ugly shade of red; the sickening color twirled down in a small imitation of a whirlpool.

Multiple times, Yugi had to stop and regain his breath, cringing when he noticed that he had a few broken ribs. His head was throbbing and his slow pulse pounded in his ears, getting slower and slower every minute. Dimly, Yugi realized that if he didn't do anything to make the bleeding stop soon, he would die of blood loss.

His mind was growing foggier and his movements began to slow. The room tilted in every possible direction and then some. The extensive pain his entire body was experiencing almost made him want to die.

Something in his mind stirred at that thought. A long suppressed memory was beginning to resurface in his mind. A weird sort of determination filled his soul, leaving him to wonder what was happening. His eyes slowly closed of their own accord, his body and spirit only wanting to sleep.

_/No!/_

Like a dam was suddenly broken, bits and pieces of a lost memory flooded into his mind. It came all jumbled and out of order, like the memory of a child; yet he was able to catch small parts of it.

_Dark water…no air…so cold…let me sleep…greedy current…lightening…greedy current…_

_Golden light…more air…no more pressure…warm…so tired…heavy chest…_

_A flash of red and purple…a game starting…hope…alive…challenge…tri-colored hair…red scales…purple fin…_

_Crimson eyes._

A warm feeling surrounded him as the broken memory finished playing. He finally remembered how he had survived that day. A small smile showed through the pain. At least now he new that him surviving wasn't a mistake, that someone had gone out of their way to save him.

Dimly, he sensed something curl around his mind. It was coaxing, gentle, and very familiar.

'_Yami.'_ Yugi gave in to the merman's mental pull, allowing him to do what he pleased as Yugi completely relaxed into the mental hold.

He could trust Yami.

Yami was furious. He couldn't believe what those savages had just done to Yugi. The small human could barely even move right now! He so wanted to teach those brutes a lesson they would never forget, but there were more important thing to do right now. Like making sure that Yugi didn't die.

He quickly swam to the wall closest to Yugi, picking up the Puzzle as he did so. He had been ecstatic when the Puzzle landed in the water, but he wished it had been under different circumstances. The Puzzle was agitated and worried, apparently it had taken a liking to the small human. Which meant that it would help him save Yugi.

He encircled Yugi's mind with his own, carefully pulling at Yugi's attention. He needed the human to know what he was doing so that he wouldn't rebel and hurt himself. Yami gave a great sigh in relief when Yugi willingly gave in to Yami's call.

He called upon his ocean's magic, laying a healing spell on the water Yugi was using. It glowed a pale blue as it took effect and he made sure that Yugi kept in contact with the water; it was the only way for his magic to work.

Yami knew that he would have to have some kind of physical contact for the deeper healing to work, but for that he would need Yugi to be inside the tank with him. He doubted that Yugi's fears would allow him to do that, but maybe he could find a loophole.

But for now, he would focus on lessening the pain Yugi was in. Doing so wasn't really as hard as it could be; he just had to separate Yugi from his nerve endings. The hard part was reconnecting the mind with the body.

Yugi's half-lidded eyes became glossy with fatigue and they acquired a faraway look. Once Yami was sure that the pain was at a manageable level, he laid a webbed hand against the glass and used the control he had over Yugi's body to draw the boy's attention to himself.

The human's head lifted at the unspoken influence and his glassy amethyst eyes locked onto Yami's own crimson orbs. He gently bade Yugi to put one hand on the glass, right on his own. Yugi did so without any hesitation and the hold Yami had on Yugi's mind locked into place.

That done, he slowly drifted to the right, thankful when the Puzzle helped to establish a stronger 'rope' that would function without close contact. He carefully drew the human out of the alcove, trying to not lose eye contact. The small body shook under the strain but still remained upright. Yami would have to hurry if he didn't want Yugi's body to fall out on him.

With multiple pauses and nerve wrecking concentration, Yami finally got Yugi to the top of the tank; he was extremely thankful that he had seen the strange metal staircase and overhanging platform earlier. He coaxed the human to the middle of the catwalk, also thankful that it was only a few feet from the surface of the water.

Yami sighed in relief, now he just had to get Yugi in the water. He surfaced; waiting a few precious seconds for his breathing to adjust and readied himself to catch the human. He sent the command into Yugi's nervous system, noting that Yugi's mind had gone silent. Yami watched as the human's body swayed and tilted forward…

Then suddenly leaned backwards and became still.

'_What?' _Why did Yugi's mind just reject his command? The human had been fine getting up here, his mind hovering in and out of consciousness. Yami sent another command, this time with a bit more force and his temper stirred when he was refused again.

'_Why resist me now?_' He pondered on this, trying to understand so that he could find a way around it. He was jolted back to the current situation when he felt a violent lurch come over the link.

Yami immediately scolded himself for wasting time; Yugi's body was fading fast and the teen's consciousness wasn't doing any better. He needed to start healing Yugi now or there will be some permanent damage.

He searched Yugi's emotions, delving into the human's subconscious carefully. Yugi's automatic defenses tried to push Yami out but in his weakened state he didn't make any progress.

'Fear? What does he fear? It couldn't be me, he trusts me now. What is it-' 

Yami's eyes grew wide as he realized what Yugi was so afraid of. He hadn't thought it was possible but the evidence was right in front of him.

Yugi was afraid of water.

Though this seemed impossible to Yami he couldn't help but feel sorry for the little one. This was why Yugi had shied away from the tank that first day; it was filled with water. '_Perhaps…_' Yami began. _'Perhaps I can help him with his fear. But first I need to heal his wounds.'_

He stared up at Yugi, who had sat down and small tears were leaking from the glazed amethyst orbs. Yami sank beneath the surface for a moment, readying his muscles for the act he was about to do.

If Yugi wasn't going to come to him then he was going to go to Yugi.

With a strong flick of his tail he propelled his body out of the water. Yami quickly reached his arms for the catwalk and pushed himself all the way up. He landed with a subtle thud, his arms and hip taking most of the impact.

Yami coughed for a moment, expelling water and getting used to air, but his lungs switched easily. His crimson eyes locked onto the human next to him; the teen's breathing was becoming erratic and the small form was trembling. Yami could feel the emotions swirling beneath the surface; his search must have brought Yugi's fear to the front of his mind.

He gently laid a hand on the teen's pale face, feeling how the once smooth skin was now torn and bruised. Yugi unconsciously made to move away yet the pain he was in prevented any movement. Tears began to form once again as his current pain and his fears mixed together.

Yami noted that Yugi was spiraling downward, mentally and physically. He carefully turned Yugi's head to face him, seeking eye contact with the fragile human. He was slightly frustrated when Yugi continued to look at the water beneath him. Yami needed to distract Yugi from his fears, at least until he was healed; he bent his body so that he came in-between Yugi's line of sight and the water. Dull amethyst eyes flickered momentarily when Yami did this and Yugi eyes slowly trailed upwards before locking on Yami's face.

Crimson locked with amethyst.

Yami sent as much reassurance and protection as he could through the link, trying to let Yugi know that everything was all right. He could see the internal battle in those purple depths; the reason for his fear was probably playing over and over again in his mind.

Yami soon realized that unless Yugi's fears were dealt with he wouldn't be able to fully use his healing magic on him, seeing as how it was water magic it would hold that certain feel to them and Yugi would probably reject them.

Now knowing what to do, he carefully maneuvered Yugi until he was sitting in his lap, cringing at ever whimper the human emitted. Yami positioned Yugi so that he was almost facing him, and with an encouraging pulse from the Puzzle he put it around both of their necks.

He leaned close, laying his forehead against Yugi's and pushed gently on Yugi's mind. Yugi began to resist him, feeling the ocean through his magic.

/_Yugi_./ Yami called. /_Let me in, little one. Let me help./_ He could feel the Puzzle lending its aid, strengthening his call to the human. /_You're safe, little one, let me in./_

He could tell that Yugi wanted to accept his call but his fears held him back. Yami pushed again in an attempt to reach Yugi's soul; the soul would recognize him even if the mind wouldn't. He felt the defenses give for a second and he reached forward, this could be his only chance.

Suddenly he was through, tumbling right into the reason for Yugi's greatest fear.

_The wind whipped through the air, catching the sail and forcing the boat to tip precariously to the side. The occupants of the boat desperately reached for anything that would keep them from falling into the ocean's murky depths. The waves became fierce and they crashed into and over the small boat, sweeping away anything that wasn't tied down._

"_Yugi!!!" His parents yelled, trying to find out where their son was. __Lightning__ flashed and the resulting thunder drowned out any noise except for the angry waves and fierce winds. Rain began to beat mercilessly out of the sky, making it even harder for the humans to see._

_Yugi was trying so hard to stay on the boat; his small body and lack of strength were both factors against him as the rain beat down. He barely heard his parents calling his name and he tried to see through the curtain of rain. __Lightning__ illuminated the sky once again and Yugi saw that his parents were at the other side of the boat._

_Scared and frightened of the __knife-like__ waves that were constantly crashing into the side of the boat, he tried to make it to where his parents were. Somehow, he knew that if he could get to his parents he would be __all right_

_A rather large wave began to rise and approach the defenseless sailboat. __Lightning__ crackled across the sky, illuminating the angry sea and the deadly wave that was fast approaching, which __went completely__ unnoticed by the people on the boat._

_The wave crashed headlong into the boat sweeping over the deck and almost submerging it. Yugi was swept across the deck, his hands grabbing desperately at anything to stop his decent to the ocean. Right as he was about to be swept off the side of the deck, his right hand collided with the rail. He quickly grasped onto the only thing that would keep him from being swallowed by the hungry waves._

_He coughed as the __seawater__ tried to force its way into his mouth and nose. The water from the last wave had barley receded before another one crashed onto the deck. Yugi tried to keep his hold on the railing as the waves and wind tossed this small boat back and forth, trying furiously to prevent the ocean from swallowing him up and taking him away from his parents._

"_YUGI!!!!!" His head shot up as his mother once again screamed his name. She was on the other side of the boat, one hand holding onto a rail while the other was holding onto an orange life jacket. She and Yugi's father were trying to make their way towards Yugi when everything tumbled down._

_Lightning__ snaked through the sky, finally deciding on a target. In what appeared to be slow motion, it lanced toward the broken sail, its bright light temporarily blinding Yugi and making him see spots. His vision cleared and he saw the look of pure terror on his parents' faces. The lightening struck the top of the sail and time resumed._

_Crack! __**BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!**_

_The force of the thunder and the electrical charge that ran throughout the boat forced Yugi's hand from its semi-secure hold on the rail, sending him crashing into the waves. The dark foamy water closed over his head and, even with the life jacket, the current dragged him down._

_He panicked, trying desperately to reach the surface. Air, he needed air. His eyes were wide open but all he saw was the dark foamy water and flashes of light that appeared above him. His lungs burned as he desperately swam in the direction he thought the surface was._

_At the last second he broke through the surface, gasping for air and trying to stay afloat among the angry waves. His small body was tiring extremely fast and he was relying heavily on his orange life jacket as he was tossed around._

_**BOOoooommmm!… **_

_The thunder split the air particles apart as the sound traveled through the waves and his small body. His mind was a panicking mess as another wave towered above him._

_He got one last look at the demolished, burning boat and that look of horror on his parents' faces, before the towering wave crashed down on him, sending him into cold, wet, darkness._

Yami gasped for breath, his heart racing as if he had just out swam a mako. (fastest shark) He had felt that memory just like it was his own. Yami now knew why Yugi was just so terrified of the water; it had taken his parents and dragged him into their inky depths. Wait a minute, where was Yugi?

His crimson eyes opened to darkness, his surroundings unnaturally silent except for the smothered sobs. Yami searched for any sign of where he was and tried to spot Yugi. The human was no longer sitting in his arms but he suspected that he wasn't in the waking world anymore.

He flicked his fins, seeing as how this darkness allowed him to move like he was in water. Yami glided towards the crying sounds, noting that they sounded familiar. He wandered in this nothingness for who knows how long and the crying never increased or decreased in volume; he had long since realized that the noise belonged to Yugi.

"Yugi!" He called out, subconsciously knowing that he would be understood. "Yugi where are you?!" He continued to wander in the dark void in hopes that the little one would answer him.

"Little one, it's Yami. Please tell me where you are!" The sobs continued to come, but they seemed to be getting louder. "I want to help you."

'…_Yami?'_

A dim light was spotted in his peripheral vision, small and pale but still there. He spun around to face it and immediately swam towards it. He knew that it would lead him to Yugi and his Puzzle was urging him on.

"Yugi," he called gently. "Let me find you, I want to help."

The small light was getting closer and Yami could just barely make out a human form in the middle of it. Determination filled Yami as he speed forward and he almost leaped for joy when he recognized the spiky hair of the younger.

His eyes narrowed in concern when he got close enough, Yugi's appearance was closely mirrored to his physical one outside. Cuts and bruises littered the see-through form and the boy's clothes were dripping wet. Yugi was trembling violently, either from the cold or fear Yami could not tell, and the amethyst eyes were closed tightly. Faintly, Yami could hear whispers floating around, none of them belonging to Yugi. They all sounded hateful and venomous.

"Yugi?" Yami called softly, frowning when Yugi didn't react. He swam closer, carefully reaching a hand into the faint light that surrounded Yugi.

Yami's first thought was just how cold Yugi's skin was; it felt like he had been submerged in the Antarctic ocean for way too long. Something else that was bothering him was that the whispers were getting louder.

Electricity suddenly sparked between his hand and Yugi's face, and the whispers sharply came into focus. Spiteful, mean, hateful comments swirled around them and the pain-filled screams of three people were twirled together in a vicious tornado that was tearing Yugi's soul apart.

_Freak-Stupid orphan-Nobody wants you-Not enough room-Another one-No room-Reassigned to another foster home-runt-worthless-unwanted-brat-Stupid orphan-Freak._

The voices clawed at him, attempting to draw him in with the hateful words and pained screams. He fought against them and pulled Yugi closer to his body, knowing that the teen was most affected by the jeering taunts. The Puzzle flashed once in warning before attacking the unseen voices directly. The sounds screeched as they were silenced and only Yugi's quiet cries filled the silence.

Yami looked to the spiritual form of Yugi, once again noting the numerous scars and the tattered clothing. He could see his own hand through the back of Yugi's transparent form. The small boy was shaking in his grasp and crystalline tears fell on his bare arms as they escaped from tightly closed eyes.

"Yugi?" He called gently, sighing when the human took no visible notice of him. He pulled Yugi into his lap and tucked the transpired head under his chin, his arms wrapped securely around the fragile waist as he continued to whisper.

"Yugi, little one, why don't you answer me? You can trust me. I will not harm you. Please speak to me." He continued with the quiet encouragements, patiently waiting for some sign that it wasn't too late. His patience was rewarded when he felt the trembling stop.

'…_Yami?…' _A small question floated over the link sounding weak and tired. Yami took no time in replying, his voice reassuring and calming.

"Yes, little one. I am here, I won't leave you."

'_You…wont leave?…'_ The quiet mental voice sounded hopeful.

"I won't leave you, Yugi. I promise."

'_But…they left me…and…they promised.' _In a more resigned tone_. 'Why would anyone want to stay with a worthless orphan like me…'_

"Yugi," Yami said, he could feel Yugi's soul shrink back into the darkness. "Yugi, listen to me, you're not worthless. You're important, don't let what they've said drag you down." He pulled the human onto his lap, latching his arms around the transparent form.

'_But…what if they're…right?'_

"They're not." Yami interjected, his voice resounded sure and confident. "There are people who want to be with you."

'…_Who…'_

"Me." Yami realized. He had grown attached to the small creature that held so tightly to him. He had instinctually fallen into the role of a big brother as he spent more time communicating with the teen. "I will protect you, Yugi. I will never leave you alone again." He sent loads of reassurance through their link, wishing that Yugi would believe him.

'…_promise?_'

"Yes, Aibou. I promise." Yami could still feel the lingering doubt that radiated from Yugi's form. There had to be some way to convince him, some way to prove what he said to be true. Simple promises weren't going to be enough anymore for the broken child, he needed something stronger.

Then Yami had it. There was a specific protection spell that only the royalty could do, and Yami was the only one to successfully complete the spell. It was so strong that it could manifest into a semi-corporeal being, though it could also remain hidden if desired. The spell was a symbol of protection and trust, only given to one person.

"Yugi." He spoke, gaining the human's attention. "I know a way to prove what I say is true. Do you trust me?" He needed to make sure that Yugi trusted him. Otherwise the spell wouldn't be as powerful.

Yami felt the smallest of nods against his chest, the first physical answer he got from the human. He smiled as he ran a webbed hand through Yugi's hair and said,

"Then relax, little one. Let me quell your fears."

Carefully, Yami began to weave his magic together. Blue colored tendrils drifted around them, mixing with other hues of gold, red, and black. He held Yugi close to him as the teen tried to shy away, obviously sensing the ocean's magic through him, and submerged him in reassuring feelings.

"It's alright, Yugi. These magic is a part of me, they will not harm you." He wove some of the Puzzle's magic around the human, knowing that Yugi wouldn't be as afraid of it. True enough, Yugi's soul relaxed once again and Yami began the second stage of his spell.

The magic that was assembled twirled in a brilliant light display, ethereal snakes ghosting over the human's transparent body. Yugi, who had opened his eyes a few seconds earlier, was gaping openly at the majestic colors. Yami couldn't help but smirk in amusement at the child-like fascination.

He began to chant, his deep voice echoing in the darkness. A golden snake appeared before them, taking the image of a cobra. Each individual scale seemed to have its own prism, catching different shades of gold, red, and black.

The cobra swayed closer to Yugi's face, inspecting the person it was to be given to. An almost intelligent gleam shown in the beady ruby eyes as it starred directly into amethyst eyes. The cobra skated as close to Yugi's skin without actually touching and a black tongue lightly flickered against his forehead, eliciting an unbidden shiver from the human.

Its hood flared open slightly, revealing an eye-like pattern on the inside, and it gave an appreciative nod of it head. The golden creature leaned forward, wrapping its coils twice around Yugi's neck before slithering around his upper left arm. Yami's eyes lowered as he focused on his spell.

Yugi found his limbs to be unresponsive as the cobra wound loosely around his arm and neck, its thick coils almost touching each other. He couldn't keep his eyes away from the potentially deadly snake that settled its head in the hollow of his neck. A cool tongue flickered against the side of his neck and warm scales touched his skin.

In a sudden, bright flash of light, the golden cobra froze, its body becoming like that of a metal. The extra tendrils of magic spun around them in a fiery tempest and Yugi felt a sudden spike in his mind. Amethyst closed in a faint while crimson eyes looked on in accomplishment. One of the most difficult spells in existence had just been completed flawlessly and it had been given to a human of all things. Man, if the people back home heard about this…

Yami looked fondly at the small teen in his arms, inspecting the life-sized cobra that curled protectively around Yugi's neck. He marveled at how the tiny scales caught in the light and reflected a golden spectrum into the surrounding darkness. On the outside of the hood the scale pattern imitated that of the Millennium Puzzle, an upside down triangle with the Eye of Horus in the center.

The transparent form slowly began to solidify and Yami pulled them both into the physical world. He kept a reassuring grip on Yugi's soul, absently realizing that it was a lot easier than before. He awoke in his own body, skin slightly dry from being exposed to air for so long, with a sleeping Yugi in his arms. A webbed hand brushed the dripping bangs away from the sleeping human's face affectionately and the golden cobra gleamed innocently in the dim lighting

With a relieved sigh Yami leaned forward, allowing gravity to pull his body back towards the tank beneath him. Air swept past his skin as he fell through the air, and his body tensed as he broke into the water's surface and sank to the sand covered floor.

With the still-asleep Yugi in his arms.

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Well, there u have it. I hope it was entertaining. I want to thank my beat for this wonderfull chapter.

REview


	13. Chapter 13

Wow, it's been like a month since I've updated this story. Sry. I had to completely redo this chapter because the first one sounded choppy and I kept getting stuck. I need to think about the plot some more, so that's why this chapter is shorter than the last.

Oh, I almost forgot. I've drawn a pic to go with the last chapter curtousy of UsagiDragon. Look at my profile for the link (for some reason it wont save here). This is only the lineart and hopefully I'll have the penned in/colored version up soon.

(This chapter is written mostly in Seto' POV, every now and then the pov will change but it wil stay in Seto's.)

Enjoy Chapter 13 of Crystal Waters!

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Seto Kaiba was not having a good day.

He had woken up that morning with a fairly medium-sized headache. Thankfully, Mokuba had noticed and refrained from doing anything too annoying, but his breakfast had been burnt and his lunch had gotten mixed up with someone who had a peculiar taste for deep-fried squid, found out that his board meeting had been rescheduled to an earlier time, and had lost his car keys. When it was finally time to go back to the research bay for more experiments, he had been hoping for a relatively normal evening.

He should have known better.

Seto didn't believe in fate or destiny but that didn't prevent him from cursing every deity into the next century at what he had found. The room had been painfully quiet and upon further investigation he had discovered a trail of blood leading behind the tank. Mokuba, who was normally very levelheaded in stressful occasions, had completely freaked out in fear for his new friend. Seto had also been very concerned but he tried not to let his emotions get the best of him.

After Mokuba had been sufficiently calmed down, Seto had ventured towards the alcove. The blood trail had thinned back there before stopping at a small sink. It took him a good five minutes to find the beginning of another trail that started at the bottom of the metal staircase that lead up to the top of the tank.

Seto could easily picture what had happened. Someone, most likely a guard, had come in here last night and found Yugi. A beating must have occurred, leaving Yugi bleeding and bruised on the floor, and the guard probably left after that. The injured teen went to clean his wounds and eventually the guard had come back, wanting to inflict more pain. The guard had dragged the teen to the top of the tank.

A sense of foreboding filled Seto as he pondered what happened next. He knew for a fact that the diminutive teen was deathly afraid of water and it was safe to assume that the guard had also known.

He was brought out of his musings when Mokuba gave a sudden but short cry. His younger brother was trembling and pointing to something in the tank. Seto turned his attention to what had caused his brother's reaction and his own heart almost stopped beating.

A small gray shirt, covered with holes and stained with a washed out red, was caught on one of the protruding edges of the cave, barely moving because of the lack of water movement.

His earlier assumptions snapped back into place. Yugi must have been taken to the top of the tank and thrown in. no doubt, the guard would have found some kind of cruel amusement as he watched the victim flail about in the water. Yugi would have tired easily and sunk beneath the surface, leaving the guard to flee in light of possible murder.

Still, something didn't seem right. If Yugi had been thrown into the tank then wouldn't the merman rescue him? The two look-a-likes had become really close lately and the merman seemed to be exceptionally protective of the smaller human. The merman had to have reacted when Yugi sank into the tank and the most logical reaction was to bring the drowning human to the surface. Unless…

Unless the merman hadn't realized that the human needed air.

There was basis for that argument too. The merman, for whatever biological reason, was able to survive above the surface for lengthy amounts of time; he could have assumed that humans were able to do the same and that brought out a lot of other possibilities. And because of the lack of water stains on the floor, it was safe to assume that nothing had exited the tank.

His icy blue eyes scanned the clear water in the tank, trying to locate the creature he knew resided in it. Light glinted off of red scales in the darkness of the artificial cave and Seto's vision zeroed in on the target. There was a lighter shadow in the blackness of the cave, and it suspiciously looked too big to be just the merman.

He bid Mokuba to go to the controls and raise the cave as he tried to ignore the hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach. His brother did as asked, because soon enough the small cave was slowly lifted out of the water. The shadowy form inside the cave walls jerked, startled at the sudden movement of his surroundings, and moved to stay in the cave's shadow. Unfortunately, for the time being, this didn't prove sufficient enough when the cave rose above the surface of the water into a place where he couldn't easily follow.

As the room's flickering lights slowly chased the shadows away, both Kaibas inhaled sharply at the sight in front of them.

The merman was floating gracefully in the water, crimson eyes staring warily out at the elder Kaiba. The small teen that he had been searching for was being held by the merman with a serene expression on his face. The strange Puzzle that Yugi had solved a few days earlier hung around both their necks, its golden surface glittering in an ethereal light. The human was bare-chested and his pale skin contrasted against the merman's tan skin tone.

Strange tendrils of light entwined around them both, never staying in one specific place at the same time it reminded Seto of one of those decorative plasma balls, with lightning streaking across the glass surface). A crystalline serpent encircled the teen's shoulders, decorated with the detail fit of an artistic genius and almost looked alive. A circlet of light hung around the teen's neck and small air-bubbles escaped from his mouth every now and then.

The merman was the emotional converse of the sleeping human and the sea creature glared warningly at Seto, daring him to disturb the tranquility of the human's dreams. At first, Seto was going to have a panic attack and try to get the small human out of the water and into the air where he could breathe, but he had paused momentarily and let logical thinking take over.

Yugi didn't look like he was drowning or already dead; he merely looked like he was sleeping. The human's chest rose and fell in the instinctual exercise of breathing and the evidence of air-bubbles continuously emitting from his mouth contradicted the thought of having no air. Somehow Yugi was still breathing underwater, and Seto had a suspicion that it was because of that glowing ring around Yugi's neck. Seto didn't want to admit that it was because of magic but there was no way to deny the proof before him.

Kaiba, unfortunately, didn't see his younger brother move until it was too late. Mokuba had taken one look at his friend being held underwater and started screaming. He beat his fists against the glass wall in a futile attempt to wake Yugi up.

Unfortunately, Mokuba wasn't able to see the signs he had and reacted accordingly. The younger Kaiba started screaming at the merman and began to beat his fists against the glass walls of the tank, not noticing the wide-eyed expression of the merman as he started to swim around agitatedly. Tan arms tightened around Yugi's waist and the merman curled around the human in a futile attempt to hide him from the painful noise.

Kaiba had barely been able to drag his brother away from the tank wall and restrain the struggling arms. He spoke to Mokuba hurriedly, trying to make him understand that Yugi wasn't in any danger.

It was then that Yuugi decided to wake up. Purple eyes fluttered open and blinked confusedly. They took in their surroundings before his black pupils suddenly dilated in terror and he began to scream.

This was just not Kaiba's day.

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Review plz!


	14. Chapter 14

**_Well, I finally got it finished. Sry for the extremely long wait!! I got stuck half-way through and didnt know how to proceed. I'm hoping to get the plot rolling soon, so bear with me until I get it planned out. Oh! and Happy (belated) Valentines Day!_**

_And a big thanx to my beta: Kariyushi! hands out a cyber plushie of merboy Yugi _

(_Disclaimer: I dont own Yugioh!)_

**_Crystal Waters_**

**_Chapter 14_**

**_by: Geckogrl2_**

* * *

Yami flicked his fins in agitation as he watched the blue-eyed human stare at him. He had to admit that this human was one of the few intelligent humans he had met, even if he was being dense right now. Carefully, Yami searched through Yugi's memories of this human and found out only a few things. His name was Seto Kaiba and he was the elder brother of Mokuba, the smaller human that had befriended Yugi. The human's outward personality was cold and calculating, yet there was a warmer side that Yugi saw every now and then. The human was also an excellent strategist and gamer.

"A rivaling personality, huh?" Yami had to laugh at the fact that Yugi added that last little tidbit. "And he doesn't believe in the supernatural? He's got to have one of the most stubborn personalities if he can't believe what's before his very eyes." He managed to get a drowsy laugh out of Yugi, who was still tucked away in his own mind. Yami was careful not to bring Yugi back into full awareness because the little human's fear of water wasn't completely gone yet, so would most likely have a panic attack.

This was also the reason why he was glaring at the human called Seto Kaiba. Yami could see the wheels turning behind those blue eyes and he _really_ didn't want the human doing anything rash. He soon realized that it wasn't the elder Kaiba that he had to worry about.

A blur of black and gray flung itself against the wall of the tank, screaming and pounding against the containment. Yami's sensitive ears could barely take the agonizing sound that ripped through the water. He jerked backwards as his tail moved spasmodically. Underneath his own pain he could feel Yugi's mind rise to consciousness without him to prevent it.

The pounding thankfully stopped when Kaiba restrained his panicking brother, but the damage was already done.

Yugi's relaxed form stirred sluggishly in his arms and restless eyes fluttered behind their eyelids. It was too late for Yami to bring Yugi back to sleep so he tightened his grip as he waited for the consequences. Amethyst eyes peeked out momentarily, eyes glazed with sleep, before his entire body stiffened in fearful realization.

It was all Yami could do to mentally clamp over his ears as that panicked scream tore through the link. The smaller human thrashed in his arms as Yugi panicked, and Yami instinctually held tighter. The threads of his magic, the ones healing Yugi and helping him breathe underwater, fluctuated momentarily under the sudden change in emotion, but quickly adapted and continued on with their job. The golden snake that coiled around the human's shoulders moved with the teen as though it was as part of Yugi's physical structure, and its arcane magic stayed dormant.

Yami blocked out all his surroundings to focus completely on calming the panicking Yugi. He dove through the link, grasping at Yugi's tumbling thoughts, and tried to pull them together in a somewhat organized manner.

'_It's all right, little one. There is no need to fear. You are safe with me, remember?'_ Yami whispered soothingly as he held the astral projection of Yugi's soul. The shivering, transparent form had buried its head in Yami's chest, and held desperately onto the merman's waist. Yami ran his hands his webbed hands through the multi-colored hair in a reassuring gesture, and his tail curled around Yugi's feet in brotherly protectiveness. _'Calm down, Yugi. You're all right, you're safe. It __can't__ hurt you.'_

Yami paused as he listened to Yugi's half-coherent mumblings about how it _could_ hurt him and that it has done so before. Yami quickly cut off that thought, not wanting Yugi to regress into the still painful memory.

'_Not anymore, little one. It __can't__ hurt you anymore.'_

_/B-but-/_ Yugi started, his thoughts becoming more stable than they were before.

'_No buts, Yuugi.' _Yami interrupted._ 'I've told you that you're safe. Do you not trust me anymore?'_ He meant this question to be rhetorical, and to only make Yugi a little guilty so that he could be distracted. Yami knew that if Yugi didn't trust him then this type of spiritual contact would not be possible; however, Yugi didn't seem to realize this.

The small human tightened his grip on Yami frantically, and unintelligible ramblings were whispered through Yugi's lips. Apparently, he interpreted Yami's question as a threat to leave.

'_Shhh, I'm not going anywhere, little one.'_ It took many more reassuring sentences and gestures to calm Yugi down, and the smaller teen began to relax. Amethyst eyes lost their panicked glaze as Yugi's fear subsided.

'_Would you like to wake up now?'_ Yami asked once the human's fear was under control. _'I will not leave you, and the water __won't__ hurt __you,'_ he reassured quickly, catching a stray thought. _'And I believe your human friend is worried.'_ Yami transferred the image of the human child panicking when he saw Yugi under the water. He could feel a small amount of guilt rising in Yugi; apparently, the teen didn't like to worry people.

'_I'm not going to have to __challenge__ you __again__, will I?' _Yami questioned in a jest. While he was submerged Yugi's memory he had recognized the seven-year-old version of Yugi. He had swum into the storm on a dare, and had encountered the drowning child that looked so much like him. He scolded himself for not noticing the similarities between the child who accepted his challenge and the teenage human that befriended him. Yami hadn't really expected to see the person he challenged again; not that the human would still be in need of his help.

Yugi must have noticed the joking tone of Yami's question for he laughed in return. Yugi also recognized the merman as his savior from long ago, though his memories of the whole event were less detailed than Yami's. He gave a hesitant nod at Yami's earlier question; he was still afraid of the water, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad if Yami were with him.

Yami smiled at how brave Yugi was being, and swelled up in brotherly pride as the human tried to master his fears. He kept his hold on Yugi's spiritual form as he drew them both into the physical plane. Yami felt the subtle changes in atmosphere that accompanied the switch.

He was the first to open his eyes, and the first thing he subconsciously noticed was that very little time had passed since he had submerged into the link. '_Time must move differently.'_ He thought.

Yugi stirred in his arms as he too woke up to the physical plane. His purple eyes blinked a few times to adjust to the lighting, and his body trembled in habitual fear. There was a subtle fascination though, and that made Yami believe that Yugi's fear was conquerable.

Yami tightened his grip reassuringly, and chuckled at the startled jump he received in return. Yugi turned around in his arms, tearing his eyes from away from the golden tendrils that danced around them, to look questioningly at Yami. The merman caught the unspoken question and responded in kind.

"_That's my magic, Yugi."_ Yami explained. "_It's making sure that you can breathe here."_ He left out that it had also healed him after the small human was beaten – it wouldn't help to bring up any unpleasant memories. Yugi's train of thought thankfully didn't go down that road, and he continued to inspect his surroundings.

A slight panic grew in the human when he caught a glimpse of the golden cobra that coiled around his shoulders. He twisted his spine and craned his neck to try and get a better view of it, his panic thankfully staying on a low level.

Yami laughed in amusement as Yugi stretched his neck out like a turtle. Yugi, in turn, pouted at being the center of Yami's good-natured laughter. "_That is also a part of my magic"_ He said, waving off Yugi's pout. _"It is a charm unique to the roy-…to my family."_ Yugi, caught up in his pouting, almost didn't catch the slip, but Yami was talking about the charm again before he could dwell on it. He would have to ask later. _"Its structure and aura signature show that you are someone that I care about, and that you're under my protection. The charm itself is capable of __protecting__ you, but __its__ limits aren't known yet."_

Yugi floated there with the most adorable look of confusion the merman had ever seen. He didn't know why Yami was being so nice to him and doing so much for him when he obviously didn't have anything to trade for it. Did he truly find a sincere friend? One that didn't want to use him? It almost seemed too good to be true.

A stray thought, not at all related to the previous one, flashed through his mind, and he was embarrassedly horrified to find that it had traveled through the new 'mind link'.

_/'But…why does it have to be so…obvious?'/_

It must have been strange to the currently forgotten humans who had been witnessing the whole silent conversation since the beginning. They had stared in shocked silence as their new friend woke up underwater (and was still breathing!) with a foreign object looped around his shoulders and had what seemed to be a telepathic link with a mythological fish-man. The smaller of the look-a-likes had sent an obviously confused look to the other, to which the merman had blinked stupidly for a couple seconds before suddenly convulsing into a seizure.

Yami just couldn't stop laughing; even after his sides were splitting at the seams he couldn't seem to stop. Yugi's embarrassed voice tried desperately to take back what he had said and to explain that 'he didn't mean it like that'. Yami ruffled the smaller teen's hair when the human started to pout, cheeks still red in embarrassment.

"Thanks Yugi." Yami gasped out as he tried to reign in his laughter. "I needed that" The human continued to pout and protest despite Yami's reassurance, and his blush slowly faded away. "All laughter aside, you do bring up a valid point." Yami guessed that humans didn't parade about with metal snakes lying on their shoulder. It might be the equivalent of a merman swimming around with rocks on his head, or…pants. Yami shuddered at that thought. No merman, insane or not, would be caught dead wearing a pair of human pants, and Yami didn't know why the humans wore them either.

A simple flash of his magic bade the charm to hide its presence. Yugi watched in fascination as the snake's surface rippled before coming alive. It moved closer to the human's flesh before melting into the skin, creating a perfectly realistic and identical image to its 3-D form.

Yami smiled at Yugi's apparent amazement. The child-like innocence that still clung to the human despite the hardships he had been through showed that he had a very strong will and that he was worthy of his family's signature charm.

The merman's eyes drifted over towards the other two humans as Yugi ran his fingers over the image on his skin. The smaller, black-haired human was staring at them with unconcealed confusion and amazement mixed with a residue of fear. The taller one, Kaiba, was still holding onto his brother and his emotions were hidden, guarded by icy blue eyes. Yami didn't know whether to applaud or curse the human's ability to hide his emotions for it made it extremely hard to read his intentions. He was sure that the elder Kaiba didn't mean any harm to Yugi, but he was having a little trouble getting over the fact that he had suffered discomfort and humiliation at the hands of this human.

An unconscious emotion drifted over to him from Yugi's side of the link, efficiently disrupting the glare he had been giving Kaiba. His attention immediately swiveled to a blushing Yugi as a strange sound filtered through the water. He could feel Yugi unsuccessfully try to hide the emotion; he _was_ still new to the whole 'mind link' thing.

Amusement found its way back onto Yami's face, and Yugi gave up trying to hide what he was feeling. Yugi's stomach growled ferociously in response.

"It seems someone is hungry." Yugi's denial died in his mind as his stomach continued to voice it opinion. Yami couldn't help but laugh at Yugi's frustrated expression. He flicked his fins, propelling them upward and he earned a startled squeak from Yugi. At Yugi's questioning stare, he explained that he didn't have any food down here and that the other two humans were going to have a fit if Yugi caught a cold.

With some careful maneuvering and a lot of muscle power, Yami was able to get Yugi safely onto the catwalk. He was slightly disappointed when the human scrambled away from the water, but he knew that Yuugi wouldn't be able to get over his fear in one sitting. He continued to tell Yugi's subconscious that the water wasn't going to hurt him and Yugi managed to stay close enough long enough to say thank you to Yami.

Yugi stood at the top of the catwalk's steps, leaning against the railing for support when gravity pulled harshly on his legs. He was a little sore from not being able to move around, and he was thankful that that was the only kind of pain he was feeling, the beating still fresh enough in his mind. Yugi gave a grateful smile when he felt Yami swear that that would never happen again, and he knew that Yami would keep his promise.

Reality slowly sunk in and he trembled when he felt the excess water cling to his skin and shorts. He could tell that Yami was suppressing his fear of water and for that he was thankful, but there were still instinctual parts of his fear that leaked through. Yugi was determined to find a pair of dry clothes before he lost what little control he had over his fear, so he carefully made his way down the stairs.

He was rather surprised to find that a bundle of black hair latched tightly around his waist when he made it to the bottom of the stairs. It took him a second to recognize Mokuba and he promptly blushed when he realized that he had no shirt on. He probably would have died of embarrassment – Yami wasn't helping either by laughing – if Seto hadn't stepped in.

"Mokuba. I think that your friend would like a change of clothes and some food. Why don't we get that settled before you hug him to death." The younger Kaiba seemed unfazed by his brother's apparent amusement and immediately dragged Yugi off to find said clothes and food.

A couple hours later, Seto found himself holding a sleeping Mokuba and watching a similarly sleeping Yugi. When Mokuba had fed the small teen earlier, Seto had to refrain from laughing at the wide-eyed expression Yugi had when he saw the variety of food that was presented to him, and Seto had similarly fed the merman, who didn't eat the food until Yugi told him that Seto wouldn't poison him using food. Another of those silent conversations happened, leaving the two Kaibas in the dust. When Yugi realized what he had been doing, he had embarrassedly explained the gist of the conversation. Apparently, the merman didn't trust the tall human any farther than he could walk on dry land and Yugi was trying to convince the merman otherwise. Yugi had then whispered like he was holding a great secret, "Yami just too spoiled. He says that the food has no flavor." This roused several indignant squawks from said merman and laughter from Yugi.

Seto stared at the strange picture that was given him. Yugi was curled up closer to the tank than he ever was before and the merman was pressed up against the glass as close as he could get to Yugi. It was so strange yet so right that he couldn't quite grasp it. They seemed so close to each other even though they hadn't known each other for very long.

He spared a glance at the sleeping bundle in his arms. Maybe it was the same concept that brothers shared – a deep bond that was born from strife and circumstances.

He glance sadly back at the sleeping duo. Seto knew that this peacefulness wasn't going to last; eventually something would happen that would leave one or both mentally wounded. Yami couldn't live forever in a tank, and there was a chance that he would be returned home. If more merpeople lived in the sea it would be a safe guess that he would want to return, and Yugi can't live underwater the same way Yami could survive on land.

The bigger probability, though, lay in the merman being taken away from Yugi by greedy scientists.

* * *

**_to be continued...

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm getting so close to 100 reviews! Just 20 more! REview plz!_**


	15. Chapter 15

_**Hello dear reader! I bet you thought I had fallen off the face of the Earth! I do apologize for taking so long, and I have no excuse. And you'll probably hate me once this chapters over too...**_

_**Anyway. Big thanks to Kariyushi who edited this chapter!! Thanx very much!!**_

_**

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**_

_**Enjoy**_

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A hyper Mokuba woke Yugi early the next day. He was completely surprised when the energetic boy shoved a warm McDonald's bag at him and looked expectantly at him, like he was supposed to take it or something. The white and red bag was shoved into his confused hands.

Blinking at the mouth-watering smells that wafted from the warm bag, he glanced down into the opening. There was one cardboard box and one paper sleeve lying on the bottom and he look back at his friend.

"It's for you." Mokuba chirped. "We stopped by McDonald's this morning and I figured that you would be hungry, and you probably haven't had any fast food in a while…"

Yugi's eyes brightened considerably. He _hadn't_ had any kind of fast food in a long time, and the smells were greatly tempting. He dove into the bag and withdrew one of the two items, which turned out to be a hash brown. His taste buds were singing the hallelujah chorus with the first bite.

Mokuba's smile broadened at Yugi's expression. It looked like he had hit the jackpot, and Seto had said that greasy fast food wouldn't be a favorite of Yugi's.

'_Mmmm'_ Yugi's eyes closed in bliss as he finished up the hash brown. To think that he had missed this for most of his life!

/_Ugh, stop it, Aibou./_ A familiar voice spoke in Yugi's mind. /_You're making me hungry./_

A smile lit on Yugi's face at the merman's comment. Yami was still hiding in his cave, probably glaring daggers at Seto from the shadows. /_Well, maybe you should eat what they give you next time?/_ He wasn't sure he sent the sentence right, so it ended in a question.

/_Well, if it didn't taste so bad. I mean, _come on,_ they want me to live don't they? How can they expect me to eat _that_ stuff? __Even fish wouldn't eat it!/_

Yugi stifled a laugh; Yami was so spoiled! Although he did have to agree with what he said. That stuff didn't taste good at all – he would know, he had to eat it at one point a year ago. The workers had all been on holiday and he couldn't pilfer anything else but the lettuce and mass-produced vegetables.

/_Maybe I can convince Mokuba to bring some other things to eat…/_

/_Really?! Thank you, Aibou!/_

/_Aibou? What does that mean?/_

Yami's emotion came back embarrassed and Yugi was positive that the merman was blushing too.

/_It's…a term we use back home. A really rough translation would be 'partner'. It is mostly used by siblings./_

This explanation confused Yugi. Why would Yami call him that? No further explanation was coming and his train of thought veered to another course. We? Back home? There were more merpeople?

/_Of course there are./ _Yami intruded upon his thoughts. /_Did you think I was the only one?/_

Yugi blushed in embarrassment.

_/…you did, didn't you./_ It was a statement more than a question. Now embarrassed, Yugi stuffed his mouth with the contents from the cardboard box. He ignored the merman's rambunctious laughter in favor of savoring the last of what he discovered to be a cinnamon roll.

Yami's mirth quieted down by the time Yugi finished his sugary breakfast product. Mokuba dragged him out of the alcove, chatting away about stuff Yugi had never heard of before. One of these things turned out to be a modernized version of chess. The rules, board, and pieces were the same but the way it was built leaned more towards a computerized version, bringing to life holographic copies of the chess pieces.

He couldn't wait to play one and it just so happened that Mokuba had brought one such chess game with him today.

Yugi's eyes lit up in child-like fascination when Mokuba retracted the chessboard from a previously unnoticed briefcase. The board was metallic, with black and silver squares setting the battleground, and a small control panel was attached to opposite ends of the board.

"Do you know how to play?" Mokuba asked as he set the fame up. Yami's curiosity extended through their link and the merman swam up to the glass to get a closer look. He had never seen such a game before.

"I…yes," Yugi responded quietly, his conversational skills still needed some work, "but I haven't played since…in a long time." Truth be told, the last time he had played a two-person game had been during his second year in a foster home. The year after that, no one had wanted to play with him anymore.

A quick press against his mind banished the depressing thoughts. It pointed out that someone was offering to play with him _now_.

Yami smiled lightly as he watched the human re-teach Yugi how to play this 'chess game'. It was amazing the small similarities the surface world had to his home. This game was almost an exact copy of the game 'War' that his people play frequently. The only difference was the figurines' shapes and the layout of the board.

He was brought out of his silent comparisons by a nervous emotion that floated over the link. His crimson eyes glanced over to Yugi's form, frowning when he saw the small hand hesitate. From the information he had gathered about the rules, if Yugi made that move, he would win the game. So why was he hesitating?

/_What is wrong, Yugi?/_

Yugi was barely able to suppress the surprised squeak that jumped into his throat at the sudden communication. He pointed to his head in explanation when Mokuba asked him what was wrong. The younger human looked at him with confusion before shaking his head and turning his attention back to the game board.

Yugi cringed slightly as he felt Yami prod at him. He knew that the merman was currently able to sense his emotions and thoughts. He also knew that because of this, Yami knew about his thoughts of losing on purpose.

/_Tell me?/_

Yugi didn't think he would put his silent fears into words. Reluctantly, he opened up his barriers, no matter how small they were, and let Yami feel what he had been thinking.

/_Yugi…Aibou, you dint need to worry. The young human wouldn't hate you just because you won a game. And if he does then he isn't a very good friend./_ Yugi smiled hesitantly, Yami sounded like he knew what he was talking about. Still…he didn't want to lose the only friend he had.

/Only _friend? That makes me feel so special./_ Yugi blushed at the merman's grumbling.

/_You're my friend too…right?/_

/_You bet I am. But you might __want__ to make your move. Mokuba is probably wondering what's wrong with you./_

Yugi's head snapped up. Sure enough, Mokuba was staring at him with confusion in his gray eyes. Yugi's head curled into his chest in embarrassment. He hadn't meant to zone out like that, but it took a good amount of concentration for him to speak through the link; he was extremely grateful when Mokuba didn't ask for an explanation.

Swallowing his fear, Yuugi made the move he had been hesitating about. It took Mokuba a few moments before he realized the situation on the board. His king was trapped and there was no way for any of his remaining pieces to save his king in time.

"It's checkmate." Mokuba's eyes were wide with disbelief as he called his brother over. Yugi remained silent, frantically trying to keep his emotions in check. He was hoping beyond hope that nothing would change.

"It's a thorough trap, Mokuba," Seto's voice cut directly through Yugi's thoughts. "An old style. I'm not surprised that you fell for it." To Yugi he said, "Where did you learn this move?"

Yugi was silent for a moment, trying to remember exactly who he had seen make that move. He knew it was someone from the orphanage….

"I don't really remember….I think it was one of the sponsors at the foster home." His brow furrowed as he concentrated. This was one of his good memories from the foster home and he really wanted to remember it.

/_Let me help./_

Yugi shuddered as the watery probes slid into his mind. It felt really weird as he let Yami search for the hidden memory.

"It was an old man…he came to the foster home every once in a while to play games with us. I think his name was Solomon?"

Yami receded from Yugi's memories with a slight frown. While he had been helping Yugi look for the identity for the chess player, he had found some rather…unsavory memories from Yugi's time at the foster home.

He tuned out the human's interactions, only partially noticing that Kaiba had challenged Yugi to another game of chess. The other humans at the 'foster home' had been extremely spiteful and rude towards Yugi. Yami knew that there were always people who enjoyed putting others down, but this was ridiculous! And _why_ did it have to happen to the one _he_ saved?!

/_Yami?_/ Yugi's voice cut into Yami's thoughts and the human's worry and nervousness was evident.

/_It's nothing./_ Yami was glad when the human did not pry and he turned his attention to the chessboard.

/_Do you think I could play?/ _Yugi blinked. He didn't know if the chessboard was waterproof, though he doubted it was, and Yami couldn't really spend a lot of time out of the water before he got dehydrated. Yami laughed. /_I don't have to get out of the water. I could play through_ you./

'Oh…' That made sense. Yami could tell Yugi which move he wanted to make and Yugi could help him with the rules of the game. /_Who do you want to play against?/_ Yami would probably pick Mokuba, Yugi thought.

/_Kaiba./_

Yugi started, choking on air. 'Kaiba?' Yami wanted to play a game he had never even heard of before against someone who definitely knew a lot about it? Was he crazy?!

/_No,/_ Yami snorted indignantly. /_I'm not crazy, Aibou. I learn by seeing and experience, so if I play against someone exceptionally good…/_ He trailed off suggestively. /_Don't__ worry, Aibou. I catch on quick./_

**~(*)~**

True to his word, Yami did catch on very quick. Yugi had almost burst out laughing at the astonished look that Kaiba gave him every time the merman took an enemy piece from the board and Yami's confidence grew each time a strategy of his caught Kaiba off-guard. Yugi was also benefiting from this match, for the merman's confidence was spilling over the link and Yugi's mind was soaking it up like a sponge.

However, Yami's talent just wasn't enough to beat Kaiba's experience. The game had _almost_ ended in a stalemate, with only a few pieces on each side, but Kaiba had pulled out one last play and took Yami's king.

Yugi and Mokuba were completely impressed and shocked by the intense game. Yugi had been surprised at hoe Yami learned so quickly and he had even gotten a glimpse of _how _he learned. It was determined that Yami was a visual learner, watching how his opponent attacked and then using what he had seen to his advantage. He also had a bit of photographic memory.

/_It's been too long…/_ Yugi looked up from the game board at Yami's wistful tone. He turned around just in time to see Yami's expression full of sad remembrance. Yugi prodded lightly against him, wondering what the merman was thinking about.

/_I haven't played such an intense game in a _long_ time. Back at home we...we have a similar game that my friends and I play, but they've been so busy lately that we haven't gotten to hang out much./_

/_Will you__…__/_ It seemed that Yami was feeling the effects of homesickness and Yugi was curious about Yami's life. /_Will you tell me about your home?/_

Yami was quiet for a few moments and Yugi was afraid that he had offended the merman somehow. He quickly started to apologize, hoping that Yami would forgive him.

/_Later…I will tell you about my home after the two humans have left./_ Yami's voice was soft and Yugi knew that he had stepped on some toes, so to speak. He continued to apologize; emotionally pleading that Yami wouldn't be offended forever.

/_What are you apologizing for?/_ Yugi blinked at the faint amusement in Yami's tone. /_I knew you would ask that eventually but I think that it should __wait__ until the Kaibas leave. You don't want to explain how a merman is talking in __your__ head do you?/_

Yugi blushed in embarrassment and he quickly looked back at the Kaiba brothers. Mokuba was quietly putting away the electronic chessboard and Seto was diligently running some tests on the data he had collected, so neither of them had noticed his vacant stare while he concentrated on the 'link'.

/_You know, you_ could_ warn me when I start to space out./_

/_But where's the fun in that?/_ A pout pulled at Yugi's face in the light of Yami's ill-concealed humor. /_Aww look, he's pouting!/_

/_Yami!/_

**~(*)~**

Yugi sat patiently in his alcove, waiting for Yami to organize his thoughts. The two Kaibas had left once again, both of them having prior arrangements that called to their attention, and the room was pleasantly quiet. Yami was preparing to fulfill the promise he had made earlier today and Yugi was looking forward to learning more about Yami's home.

Yami sighed, a few air bubbles escaping to the surface. He was currently debating on whether or not to tell his friend about his heritage and status in his community. It would probably make things awkward if he said he was the human equivalent of 'royalty' out of the blue.

/_Hmm, I guess I should start by saying that I'm an only child. My father is…rather high up in politics, so there're a lot of people I know./ Yami paused, trying to think of what to say next. /I live with my father and my __aunt__ in the city named _Soriu, _the _Cela-ib./ The word was foreign to Yugi's ears, so he waited patiently till Yami explained. /_Or 'main city.' _Cela-ib_ is the largest in our community and it is the central pillar for our government./_ Yugi nodded his understanding.

/_I have a few true friends who live in the city and a distant cousin who lives in the same house. Jounouchi, a close friend who lives in the city, is very…roughish. He's not afraid to speak his mind and he can hold his own in a fight. I think you would get along well with him, Aibou__,/_Yami added. Jou' rough and protective nature would be good for Yugi's timid personality, and Jou knew how to pull shy people out of their shell. The blonde's sister, Shizuka, was a perfect example.

Yugi listened avidly as Yami spun a beautiful picture of the world he lived in. It was all so different from his world and so much more desirable. Yami seemed to have a great life, so why did he look unhappy with it?

/_It's hard to explain__,__/_ Yami answered when Yugi voiced his thoughts. /_I know I have no room to complain, seeing as how some people would die for a life like mine, but because of my father's political status in our government__,__ I am expected to follow in his footsteps and eventually surpass him. There are many people who, in hopes to gain favor with my father, try to do so through me and it is hard to find a __sincere__ person in that situation./_

Yugi did not know what to say in response to this. He had never encountered such a situation before. So, since he had no advice to give, he said the one thing he knew.

/_I'll always be your friend, Yami./_

Yami smiled so thankfully that it made Yugi blush at his own statement. He hid his face in his arms so that his coloring face could not be seen and his eyes peeked up over his arms to see a laughing Yami.

/_I know, Yugi. That's why I am partially grateful that I was captured. Here, status doesn't matter and you did not treat me as the other humans have. I have gained a true friend in this surface world./_

The clanking of a lock prevented them from saying anything else. Yugi darted over to his alcove and yami swam into the protection of his cave. It was possible that it was only Seto coming back to perform missed tests, but neither Yami nor Yugi wanted to take that chance.

It was a good thing they did too.

"Are you positive that it is an Omega class? I would hate for you to have been mistaken and disappoint me." The silky serpentine voice of this person put a contrast to the Kaibas', and it was a voice Yugi had never heard before. Footsteps approached the tank and the lights switched on, causing the occupant to blink momentarily.

"Ya, ya. I'm sure." This voice Yugi did recognize: it was the researcher's head honcho Mr. DuBois. "All visual appearance points to the Omega class. Trailing side fins, deep and rich coloration, webbed ears, you name it. Blood tests came back positive too." The footsteps stopped directly in front of the tank, right where Yugi could watch them without being seen.

Yugi quickly picked out Mr. DuBois' bulky form. The man was wearing his usual suit and his hair was combed to perfection. The serpent's voice must have been some business person, for he had his hair in ponytail, but it didn't seem out of place with his tall and lean figure. From this distance, Yugi couldn't determine eye color, but he suspected them to match the voice, cold and cunning.

"Well? Let's get on with it." The man was clearly used to power, if the way he spoke was anything to go by. Mr. Dubois grunted in disapproval – he was used to being the top dog, but he went over the control panel with little else to say. He flipped a switch and Yami's cave began to move upward.

The noise it caused must have startled Yami, for he couldn't understand the human language unless it was Yugi talking, because Yugi caught sight of crimson scales flashing about as Yami followed the cave upward. He continually kept contact with Yugi's subconscious so that what Yugi felt and heard, he would too.

It didn't take long for the cave to rise all of the way to the top of the tank and for Yami to be seen floating near the surface. Yugi cast a glance at the stranger to gauge his reaction and he couldn't miss the look of greed that flashed across the man's face. Yugi's suspicions rose and in turn, so did Yami's wariness.

Yami swam a few feet closer to the glass wall, watching as the two strange humans followed his movement. He was getting greedy vibes from the both of them and he didn't like it one bit.

"There you have it." Mr. DuBois said to the stranger. "Omega class fresh from the nets. The data we've collected from this specimen is in this folder." He handed said folder to the stranger. "I hop everything is to your liking, Mr. Dartz?"

'_Dartz…where have I heard that name before?'_ Yugi tried to remember the conversations he had overheard from employees. '_Oh no…'_

"Hmm, true to your word this is an Omega class. Though it does seem a little skinny…" Dartz trailed off as he and Mr. Dubois began to walk out of the room. The movement of the cave as it was lowered back into the tank drowned out the rest of the conversation, but Yugi did catch a few key words likes 'price' and 'delivery'.

Yami settled in the sand nearest to Yugi and swept out a probe, thankful when it showed the two humans to be getting further and further away. He instantly contacted Yugi's mind, wanting to ask what had just happened, and was surprised to find his human friend panicking.

'_It can't be! No! Why why why?!'_

Yami reached out and drew Yugi's attention to himself, interrupting the mantra of 'it can't be' and 'why'.

/_Yugi!/_ He yelled, grasping at Yugi's consciousness as it focused on him. Purple eyes starred at Yami with a look of horror and sadness. /_What's wrong?!/_ It took several attempts to get Yugi coherent enough to form an answer, and a cold stone settled in the merman's stomach at what Yugi finally said.

"Yami! They're going to take you away!"

**~(*)~**

To Be Continued...


	16. Chapter 16

_Crystal Waters_

_Chapter 16_

_Author: _

The following day was not very pleasant for Yugi and Yami. Many strange researchers and scientist had come in after hearing a rumor of a 'new species' and were trying to lay their claim, only to be chased out by an irritated Kaiba. Yugi, after hearing what the lab's CEO had said last night, just wanted nothing more than to break down and cry. Yami, however, was too busy trying to keep Yugi from being discovered to have a breakdown of his own yet.

Kaiba had just finished chasing out yet another desperate scientist and finally locked the door, hoping to keep all the others out. He had no idea what the lab's CEO was thinking when he let that information slip. Was he purposely trying to make him mad?

A stifled wail dragged Kaiba's attention back to the person who was taking this whole situation the hardest. Yugi hadn't even been able to tell him the whole story yet, but he could pretty much guess what had happened. He knew it would have happened sooner or later.

A distressed call bade him over. He looked up to see the merman try and restrain the hysterical Yugi mentally (he still didn't know if he believed in the whole 'mental connection' thing). There was a pang in his heart that responded to the other's distress and he was vaguely reminded of Mokuba when their parents had died.

Quietly, he maneuvered his tall body through the narrow gap between the tank and the wall. Now he could see why Yugi had made this spot his home. No one of normal stature would ever be able to fit in here without straining their back or twisting an ankle.

Speaking of Yugi, the younger teen was curled up against the base of the tank, holding onto his head desperately. Seto glanced up at the merman, who was hovering just on the other side of the glass and staring at Yugi with determination. He had barely gotten within a few feet of Yugi when the merman's eyes snapped to him. There was a strange force that rolled over him before the merman looked back to Yugi, obviously giving consent to his presence. Seto snorted - like he needed a myth's consent anyway.

Gently, Seto laid a hand on Yugi's shoulder, ignoring how the small teen tensed in response. No doubt he thought a guard had found him.

"Yugi," he started. The younger teen relaxed slightly at the sound of his voice and Seto almost regretted what he was going to say next. "You knew this was going to happen sooner or later." Yugi flinched away from him as if stung. Seto could feel someone glaring at the back of his head and, without looking, he could tell that it originated from the merman.

There wasn't much else he could say, really. He could have tried to reason with Yugi, but he doubted anything he said would be heard now. Standing up, Seto retreated out from behind the tank and left Yugi alone with his grief.

~*~

A spell of bitterness mingled with his grief at Seto's words. Deep inside his heart, Yugi knew that what Seto said was true but he didn't want to acknowledge it. He hadn't thought it would hurt this much.

/_Yugi…/_

Yugi flinched away from the merman's reaching presence. How could he be so selfish?! Yami was the one who was going to be taken away as an exhibit piece, not him, and here he was throwing a tantrum. He had no idea how Yami was able to stay so calm in a situation like this. It was enough to make him jealous.

/_Yugi. Look at me./_

He pretended not to hear Yami's voice, determined not to involve the merman in his selfish grief.

/_**Yugi.**__/_

Yugi sensed it coming; maybe it was Yami's tone or it could have been that he was growing more attuned to the merman's magic. He tried to roll out of the way but the action was futile.

An invisible force gripped him from behind, spun him around, and pinned him on his back. Those threads Yugi remembered from the first time he encountered Yami were back. They reached through his nervous system, forcing Yugi to stay still. A small vein of uneasiness rose at his inability to move.

/_Yugi./_ Yami's voice was a lot softer now, very gentle. _/Please look at me./_ Yugi, still uneasy, did as Yami asked and almost burst into tears again. Yami's eyes were calm and collected, at least, outwardly they were. With the mental connection, Yugi could see the uncertainty and fear hidden in those irises. Yami's tendrils of control slipped out gently, allowing Yugi free movement again. Yugi tearfully pulled himself up off of the floor and stumbled to Yami's tank, where he laid his forehead against the cool glass. Yami mirrored him on the other side.

Their mental connection widened and Yugi was immersed within Yami's feelings. He could see how the merman was afraid for what will happen, not only to him but to Yugi as well.

/_It's not your fault./_ Yami whispered as the connection ebbed back to normal. /_There's nothing you can do./_

Determination flared in Yugi's heart and his eyes narrowed in seriousness. A few months ago, he would only have been able to cry in his corner and wish he was stronger. However, ever since he had met Yami, his personality had changed, becoming sturdier and more capable. He was going to make a difference now.

"Maybe there is."

~*~

Things were definitely going way too fast for Yami's tastes and he was really shaken up at the situation. When Yugi had first told him that the Dartz human wanted to acquire him for an aquarium, he hadn't understood why Yugi reacted so badly. However, once he swept through Yugi's mind to glean the meaning behind what the Dartz human had said, he was shocked and terrified.

An 'aquarium', according to Yugi's definition, was a giant tank that held many different species of fish for the viewing pleasure of the humans. This alone tore at Yami's sense of individuality, but then he realized that this would separate him from the sea, and Yugi, _permanently_.

A terrible feeling gnawed at him after that thought. He had become so close to the human while he was here, and there was always a small chance that he could escape too. He was so busy trying to keep Yugi from revealing his location that he hardly had time for it to completely sink in. He had just barely been able to calm him when Kaiba had to come and say something that sent Yugi into fits again.

Now, it was like a switch had gone off inside Yugi, and the human was busily rushing about the room hiding some things and moving others. His mind was like a pod of silverfish: one goal but many voices. Yugi was planning something, and Yami had a bad feeling that it wasn't going to end well.

~*~


	17. Chapter 17

Crystal Waters

Part 17

Gecko_grl_2

Notes: I'm so sorry it took me so long! Please forgive me! I'm not super happy with how I wrote this, but it's growing on me. I hope you enjoy the climax of Crystal Waters!

~(*)~

"There has to be a way." Yugi whispered desperately as he looked around the lab. He had stayed up all night looking for something that could help Yami escape. He knew that the ocean wasn't too far away, and if he could just get him to the beach…but it was still too far for Yuugi to carry him on foot. His body wasn't built to carry loads, and he wasn't that fast anyway.

Yuugi hated this feeling of uselessness. He wanted desperately to save Yami, his only friend, but it seemed like there was nothing he could do.

"_Yuugi…"_ Yami whispered. Yugi flinched, aware that the merman had been listening to his thoughts again. He hunched his shoulders inward, trying to ward off his negative feelings. Yami was the one really suffering. _He_ was the one being tested on and sold for someone's viewing pleasure.

"_Yuugi…it'll be ok."_ There was a brush against his mind, an attempt at comfort that Yuugi felt he didn't deserve.

"How can you say that?" he whispered back, mortified that he was actually voicing what was going through his head. "You're going to get put in an _aquarium!_ How can you be so calm!"

"_What else can I do?"_ Yami yelled back, emotions thick in his 'voice.' _"I can't survive on land. My magic won't work unless I'm in my ocean! We can't work your human technology, and there is no one else to turn to!"_ Tears began to roll down Yugi's face. _"What else _can_ I do, Yuugi?"_ Yami whispered miserably.

Defeated, Yugi sat down against the tank. Yami wrestled with his own emotions as Yugi stared blankly at the wall. What _could_ he do? What could _he_ do? He wasn't strong, or fast, or very smart, and he didn't have any authority over anyone.

There wasn't anything he could do.

Silence reigned as the minutes ticked by. In only two hours that man was going to come and take Yami away, and Yugi would never see him again. All alone for the rest of his life.

"Yami?" Yugi whispered, emotion clogging his throat. "I…I'm going to miss you." What sounded like a sob came from Yami, and the merman drifted down next to Yugi. He pressed against the glass, head-to-head and hand-to-hand.

"_I'm going to miss you, too."_

And there they sat, until the door swung open and hour later.

Yugi jumped, startled at the sudden noise in the silent room. Yugi and Yami stared with wide and worried eyes as a tall figure strode through the threshold. _It's too early!_ Yugi thought frantically. _Dartz shouldn't be here for another hour!_

"Yugi!"

"Mokuba!" Yugi yelled as the black-haired teen appeared from the doorway. The tall figure revealed to be Seto, who brushed past them all to start typing on the main computer.

"Come on!" Mokuba urged, tugging on Yuugi's arm. "We need to hurry!"

"Hurry?" Yugi hesitated. He could feel Yami's wariness and the slow-growing curiosity. He didn't want to leave Yami's side.

"Yes!" Mokuba finally managed to pull Yugi away from the tank as the whir of machines echoed in the lab. "Dartz will be here soon; we've got to get you guys out of here quickly."

Disbelief washed over Yugi. Mokuba and Seto were helping them? Why?

"We're your friends, Yugi." Mokuba smiled. "Friends help each other."

They dashed up the ladder, Yugi hesitating a moment as his fear of water pulled at him. The golden cobra glittered on his skin, and a feeling of safety and reassurance enclosed his mind. It was a weird feeling, but it allowed Yugi to press on. His grip was tight on the railing, and he tried to turn his thoughts away from the all-consuming water.

The rumble of the crane lowering towards the surface of the water, and the distorted image of Yami swimming underneath helped to distract his queasy stomach.

"_Yuugi?"_ Yami called through their connection. _"What's going on?"_

"Yugi." Mokuba drew his focus back in. "Can you tell Yami to get in the container? We are going to move him to a transport cart."

It finally clicked then, what was going on. A miracle had happened. Yami was going to be rescued.

"We're getting you out of here, Yami!" he yelled, forcing through the nausea to step into the knee-deep container. "Come on! Seto and Mokuba found a way to get you back to the ocean!"

Yami surged up to the surface, his head emerging from the water with a splash. "_H-how?"_

"Hurry up, Yugi!" Mokuba yelled as he darted back down the ladder.

"No time to explain!" Yuugi reached out his hand. "Trust me."

There was no hesitation as Yami took his hand. They shared a brief smile, and then Yugi pulled upward, Yami adding an upward movement from his tail, and they successfully pulled Yami's body over the edge and into the container. Once the merman was secure, Yugi stepped out back onto the overhang. In a span of a few seconds, the crane whirred to life again. Yami's hands pressed against the walls of the container to give him some stability as the crane carried him to where Mokuba had pulled up a dark green four-wheeler, decked out with a wide platform on the back.

Yugi kept a watchful eye on the crane and container as he climbed down the ladder. Minutes ticked away as the crane settled onto the back of the four-wheeler, and Mokuba instructed Yugi on how to attach it and the lid. Once the final bolts fell into place and the container was secure, the crane released its hold and the four-wheeler dipped under the added weight.

"Hurry up." Seto barked, leaning into the driver's seat with a silver briefcase in his grasp. "It won't be long until they realize the virus I put in their database came from this lab." Mokuba dashed into the passenger's seat, and Yugi hesitantly climbed into the back seat, twisting so that he could put a hand on Yami's container.

The four-wheeler started rolling forward, and Yugi murmured reassuringly to Yami. Nervousness fluttered in both their stomachs, but determination was bright in Yugi's face.

"_Yuugi…_"

Yugi blinked at Yami's tone. He sought out the merman's red eyes and quizzically tilted his head. There was something off about the emotion he could feel through their connection.

"Everything will be alright, Yami." He reassured, laying his hand against Yami's. "We'll get you back home."

"_Yuugi…" _ Yami interrupted. "_What about you? They're going to know that you helped me escape, and I doubt they will let you go free…."_

"Don't worry about me." Yugi deterred. "I'll be fine."

Any further communication between the two was disrupted by an alarm.

"Damn!" Seto cursed. "They changed the code already."

"W-what?" Yugi stammered. Were they going to be stopped even before they could get out of the lab?

"Don't worry." Mokuba urged. "Seto can break it; he's a master at computers!"

"Shh!" Seto commanded. Yugi watched with worry as the brunette typed away at the keypad. Two seconds later, something beeped and the doors whirred open.

"Hold on!'

They lurched forward, right as the doors to the lab began to rattle. Outraged voices were lost in the drum of the four-wheeler, and they peeled out of the lab.

The sunlight momentarily blinded Yuugi, causing him to raise a hand to shield his eyes. A twinge of discomfort told Yugi that Yami was having a similar problem. It had been quite a while since either of them had been outside, Yugi's pale skin testified to his time in the lab, but Yami quickly began to soak it up.

Squinting, Yuugi managed to open his eyes. The sun was still rather high in the sky, yet several large cloud formations nearby threatened a dark evening. The wind was blustery, and it pushed against the four-wheeler.

"A storm?" Yugi whispered worriedly. Would Yami be safe getting home?

A siren went off suddenly, causing Yugi to jump and Seto to swear. The four-wheeler was pushed to its fasted speed as Seto tried to gain more lead on the security guards.

"_Yuugi…I can feel it."_

Something Yugi didn't recognize rose within Yami. It was strong enough to be felt through their connection and it sent weird electrical tingles through the snake looped around his shoulders.

"_It's so close!"_

The ocean came into view as they crested a hill; it's wide blue surface glittering in the sunlight. Waves crashed along the shore, beating against the rock formations that framed the beach. It was very beautiful, yet very terrifying to Yugi. Nervousness and nausea pressed against his throat, and he forced himself to think about something else. He was helping Yami get back home; he could push through a little nausea.

He turned to look behind them. A trio of security carts tailed them, making Yuugi nervous despite the giant lead they had. They were gaining though, and Yuugi prayed that they would make it in time.

"Shit." Seto yelled. They had just reached the beach as a black car rolled to a stop at the top of the hill, where the road ended. A sinking feeling drilled a hole in Yugi's stomach. He knew without a doubt whose car that belonged to.

"_Yuugi!"_

They swerved to a stop, the wheels spinning uselessly in the sand. They were very close now, not even five meters from the rolling waves.

"Hurry up!" Seto and Mokuba dashed out of the four-wheeler, leaving it running in their haste. "Undo the bolts! We'll have to carry him from here."

Yugi quickly relayed the message to Yami, whose emotions were cresting and crashing like the nearby waves. The message seemed to have been understood, but it was difficult to tell.

The bolts came undone with little resistance, and Yugi reaching in to grab Yami's arm. The merman mirrored his grasp, while Mokuba grabbed his other side and Seto grabbed his tail. Yami's obvious discomfort at Seto touching him was almost comical, but the sight of guys in suits charging towards them disrupted it. They heaved Yami out of the container, and proceeded to drag him towards the crashing waves.

There was a loud bang as a bullet struck the ground nearby. Yugi jerked up to see the suits rushing at them, guns at the ready. Bullets rang out, startling them all to loosen their hold on Yami. Seto and Mokuba fully released their grip, Mokuba yelling out in fright and Seto yelling for him to get down. Yugi struggled with the merman's full weight.

_N-no!_ "Stop it!" he yelled fearfully. They were going to kill Yami! _Just a few more feet!_

"Yugi!" Seto yelled at him. "Get over here!" The two brothers were huddled behind the four-wheeler, a cell phone clutched against Mokuba's ear. "Hurry up!"

Time slowed down and sound was muffled. Yugi looked back to Yami's fearful expression, and felt the tight grip the merman had on his arm. He…he couldn't just _leave_ Yami here.

It was then that Yugi realized how he could actually _do_ something for the first time in his life.

He grabbed Yami under the arms and _heaved_. He _was_ going to get Yami home! They were so close now! Not even two feet away rolled the waves of the ocean. He _had_ to succeed!

"A-ahhh!" Pain tore through his thigh, drowning out the sudden buzz of the snake on his shoulders. He dimly heard Yami gasp as they fell towards the water; the liquid's cool touch on his shoulder did little to soothe the pain.

"_Yuugi!"_

It_ hurt!_ The pain was nothing compared to anything he had ever felt before! They shot him; they have actually _shot_ him!

"Y-Yami…" _Run away, Yami! Hurry!_

There was a snap as something clicked into place, and Yugi was consumed with pain and water.

**~(*)~**

Yami barely understood what was going on. He knew that they were _so_ close to the ocean, and that those cursed humans in black garments were wielding some kind of weapon. Kaiba and Mokuba have abandoned them because of this weapon, so it _had_ to be something to be feared.

Yet, Yuugi was still there, dragging him towards the water with a grim determination. The men were still far enough off that they could make it. If he could just _touch_ the ocean and reconnect with his magic source….

The protective charm he had given to Yuugi buzzed in warning about two seconds before a band and sudden stab of pain tore through their connection.

"_Yuugi!"_

They fell, and the ocean's waves rushed up to greet him. His magic snapped back in to place, and in an instant the atmosphere of fear changed.

A strange mix of fear for Yuugi and the euphoria of his ocean magic crashed upon him. _Save us._ Yami commanded, wrapping his will around the surrounding water.

The humans in black had rushed at them, malicious intent etched on their indistinct faces. Anger rose within him, and the water responded to his emotions.

No, he was in his element, his power, now. They would not take him!

Violent eddies of water swept past Yami, striking at the humans. Uselessly, they fired their weapons, and uselessly, they struggled against the water. A superior grin lit on Yami's face, as he saw that blue-haired man, the one who had wanted to 'buy' him, watched. His miss-matched eyes were unreadable as the sun withdrew beneath the thunderhead clouds. Ominous crackling struck through the clouds. The storm had finally come.

_Just try._ Yami dared the cursed human. _Just you try. Give me a reason to end your pitiful existence. You cannot contain me!_

A tidal wave rose high above him, spurred on by his empowered rage. He would teach them a lesson. He would teach them _all_ a lesson! No one can own the Prince of the Ocean!

A frightened and pain filled groan whispered along the edge of his mind, accompanied by the warning of the protection charm. His drunken rage was diverted momentarily, to the creature clinging to him.

"…_Yuugi."_

Instantly, his rage broke. He gathered the shaking human into his arms. Blood was flowing from his thigh, and the sea salt was driving daggers into the wound.

Yuugi…Yuugi was hurt. He had to help Yuugi!

He gave the cursed human one last withering glare, before turning his back to it. The water rose up around Yami, and swallowed him (and Yuugi) whole, leaving behind the sound of thunder and sirens.

A current swept them out, taking them quickly away from the shore. Yuugi's pain called out to him, and the charm clamored for soothing to heal the pain. His breathing was erratic, despite the protection charm's attempts to calm it.

They were drawn into a small underwater cave, and Yami's magic sealed off all the entrances. The sharks would be around soon, and he didn't want them near with Yuugi injured so.

"_Yuugi!"_ Yami called, holding the human tightly. He pressed his hand against the bleeding wound, willing it to close. A sharp cry from the human forced Yami to pull his magic back. The power was confused. It had never before healed a human wound, and was unsure how to heal it. Yami pushed against the power's wish to 'fix' the human flesh, unsure as to what it would actually do to Yuugi. He would wind up with one less leg or some strange mutation.

"_Y-Yami!"_

But Yuugi was in so much pain. _What should I do? _Yuugi could be _dying_ from such a wound!

He would not let Yuugi die; not after all the human had done for him.

"_Hold on, Yuugi." _Yami pressed his forehead against the Yuugi's clammy forehead, and restrained the human against his body. "_This will hurt."_

He let the magic take over. A 'fixed' human was better than a dead one, and he had no other choice.


End file.
